1. What does Summer mean to you
What does Summer mean to you? Spend 3 minutes responding to this question?

2. As Imperceptibly as Grief
Emily Dickinson
As Imperceptibly as Grief

3. As Imperceptibly as Grief
As imperceptibly as Grief The Summer lapsed away - Too imperceptible, at last, To seem like Perfidy- A Quietness distilled, As Twilight long begun, Or Nature, spending with herself Sequestered Afternoon-

4. The Dusk drew earlier in- The Morning foreign shone - A courteous, yet harrowing Grace, As Guest who would be gone - And thus, without a Wing, Or service of a Keel, Our Summer made her light escape Into the Beautiful.

5. Task 1
Read through the poem carefully and note down your own response to it.
You may want to consider:-
What do you think the poem is about?
Are there any interesting images or poetic devices used?
Are there any words that you do not know the meaning of?

6. 2. What do the following words mean
2. What do the following words mean? Does the context help you to work it out?
Imperceptibly
gradual or subtle
Perfidy
treachery or disloyalty
Distill
to let fall in drops
Sequestered
to set apart or remove
Harrowing
extremely disturbing, painful
Keel
part of a ship or boat

7. Task 3 Group Work
Groups collect information from eight places around the room / from front desk in turn, making notes to bring back to their group.
Groups then use this information to gain a better understanding of the poem.
See handouts!

8. Feedback
So, how does information about Dickinson’s life help to inform your understanding of her poem?

9. Themes
Some say that this poem is simply about nature and the seasons changing. However, other themes exist such as:-
Morbidity
Dickinson's poems reflect her "early and lifelong fascination" with illness, dying and death. Where do you see this in evidence in the poem?
Are you aware of other themes within the poem?

10. What do you think this stanza means?
As imperceptibly as Grief The Summer lapsed away - Too imperceptible, at last, To seem like Perfidy-
Gradual or subtle
As subtle as grief, summer has slipped away. It was too gradual to seem like betrayal (as the season changed into autumn without the person realizing)
treachery or disloyalty
Which words suggest the end of something?

11. What do you think this stanza means?
to let fall in drops
A Quietness distilled, As Twilight long begun, Or Nature spending with herself Sequestered Afternoon-
to set apart or remove
It grows quiet in the dusk, like nature is having an afternoon of rest.
Which words suggest quiet or stillness? Can this idea be linked to your understanding of those words which suggest the end of something?

12. What do you think this stanza means?
extremely disturbing, painful
See any metaphors?
The Dusk drew earlier in- The Morning foreign shone - A courteous, yet harrowing Grace, As Guest who would be gone-
Interesting metaphor. Summer is compared to guests and the narrator feels rejected by their politeness which was painful - she knew they wanted and had to leave.
It gets darker earlier and the sun rises later (so there is less daylight). It's done quietly, yet it's disturbing to the narrator because she doesn't want summer to end.

13. What do you think this stanza means?
And thus, without a Wing, Or service of a Keel, Our Summer made her light escape Into the Beautiful.
part of a ship or boat
The whole stanza says summer is over using metaphor to suggest the movement
“light" here is ambiguous: it could mean her easy escape - how easy it was for her to leave! And, it could represent the long, bright sunny light of summer has left or gone “Into the Beautiful” (= eternity; gone forever. )
How does the poem change meaning if you interpret ‘summer’ as symbolic for happiness? Re-read the poem carefully.

14. Task 4:- Which of the following interpretations do you support. Why
Task 4:- Which of the following interpretations do you support? Why? Or is there an alternative?
It is simply about nature and how summer changes into autumn. The poem reflects the inevitable passage of time. Overall, the passage of summer symbolizes a greater idea: the overall passage of time.
The poem sounds like someone in grief accepting death. After the death they are unable to perceive sights or sounds as they are blocking things out. It seems that time moves forward after accepting death, after a period of mourning you are able to remember the person who has passed away. As people go their separate ways they go to places where they feel better and become better than they were before. On one level it may be considered a poem about how people react to death.
It is about how Dickinson has come to accept that her life is no longer happy and that she has little to look forward to.

15. Task 5:-What can you comment on in terms of structure?
Pairs discuss and take feedback.
Consider:-
The development of ideas
Rhyme
Changes in the rhythm (count syllables per line)

16. Structure
The regular form that she most often employs is the ballad stanza, a traditional form that is divided into quatrains, using tetrameter for the first and third lines and trimeter for the second and fourth, while rhyming the second and fourth lines (ABCB).
Though Dickinson often uses perfect rhymes for lines two and four, she also makes frequent use of slant rhyme or half rhyme where the rhyme is formed by words with similar but not identical sounds. What is the effect of this in the poem?

17. Linking structure and meaning …
How can you link the structure and meaning. Think about the words which are capitalised but also look at the use of pauses and enjambment.
What is the effect of this?

18. Task 5
What do the capitalised words suggest to you? Can you organise them into categories? What sort of a picture do they build up?
Quietness
Grace
Grief
Keel
Afternoon
Twilight
Guest
Summer
Dusk
Summer
Nature
Wing
Perfidy
Morning
Beautiful

19. And finally, how does the poem make you feel?

20. As Imperceptibly as Grief
As imperceptibly as Grief The Summer lapsed away— Too imperceptible at last To seem like Perfidy— A Quietness distilled As Twilight long begun, Or Nature spending with herself Sequestered Afternoon— The Dusk drew earlier in— The Morning foreign shone— A courteous, yet harrowing Grace, As Guest, that would be gone— And thus, without a Wing Or service of a Keel Our Summer made her light escape Into the Beautiful.