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A Day by Emily Dickinson: Summary | Questions and Answers | Class 12 English
A Day by Emily Dickinson
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A DAY BY EMILY DICKINSON ANALYSIS & DETAILED INFORMATION
SHORT SUMMARY
A Day by Emily Dickinson
The poem "A Day" is a wonderful poem that has a perfect blend of both literal and symbolic meanings. This poem was composed by the American poet Emily Dickinson.
There are altogether eight stanzas here in this poem. This poem has been narrated by an unnamed child. Here, the speaker has described two beautiful and natural aspects, the sunrise and the sunset, using various images and symbols. This description of a beautiful day leads the children from innocence to experience.
According to the speaker, a day begins with the morning sun. As the sun rises, the golden colours' ribbon is seen in the sky, the deep violet colour like amethyst falls on churches' steeples, the news of sunrise spreads as quickly as squirrels run, and the hills untie their bonnets due to the rays of the sun. The bobolinks start their morning songs. All these tremendous changes are seen when the sun rises in the east. The speaker, as a child, realises the sun as the main reason behind all these wonderful changes in nature.
These two stanzas present the concept of the beginning of life in its symbolic meaning. The comparisons of images present various literal meanings.
Next, in the third and fourth stanzas, we find the speaker less confident in describing the sunset. According to him/her, as the sun sets, there is a purple stile, the boys and girls seem yellow, and they climb the stile and reach the other side. The dominion in grey leads them to close the bars quite gently and securely.
These two stanzas present the journey as well as death. The speaker seems less confident in describing the sunset. He or she doesn't know what happens after the sunset, i.e., death. The colours in Stile and Kids present the changes that appear in life as well as its journey. The stile that the kids' climb presents the journey of humans from birth to death. On the other side, the dominion in grey presents the holy God. He leads them, closing the bars, and gently presents him as taking charge of all after the death.
TEACHERS' NEB GUIDE
"A Day' is a wonderful poem, composed by one of the most renowned American poets, Emily Dickinson.
▪︎ Mostly read as "I'll Tell How the Sun Rose."
▪︎ Quite a meaningful poem, full of literal as well as symbolic meanings.
A poem has a simple description of the natural process of sunrise and sunset. Both natural processes have been presented with literal and symbolic concepts that present the transition from life to death.
▪︎ This poem has been narrated from the perspective of an innocent child.
▪︎ Description of a beautiful day using brilliant imagery and symbols.
▪︎ Theme: leading children from the stage of innocence to experience.
▪︎ The poem has been divided into two sections. Each section includes two stanzas. Each stanza contains four lines.
▪︎ The first section has a simple and confident description of the sunrise, whereas the second section lacks knowledge while describing the mysterious sunset.
▪︎ Both sections have symbolically presented the concepts of the beginning of life (childbirth) and the end of life (death).
▪︎ First stanza description: As the sun rises, a stripe of ribbons is seen in the sky, and the steeples of the churches seem deep violet, like amethyst. The news of the sunrise spreads like a squirrel's run.
▪︎ Second stanza description: The further changes in nature—as the hills untie their bonnets and the bobolinks start singing their songs.
▪︎ Seeing all these changes, the speaker softly says that it must have been the sun (the speaker's innocence regarding this world).
▪︎ Symbolic meaning: Sunrise: Birth
Sunrise: the beginning of a day, a joyous moment, a feeling of freshness, a religious aspect, the good news that runs quickly
Birth: the beginning of life; a joyous moment; a fresh start; a religious aspect; good news that runs quickly.
▪︎ The third stanza description: we find the speaker seems less confident in describing the mysterious sunset.
▪︎ Sunset time: The speaker finds a purple sun and the yellow rays of the setting sun on the boys and girls. All these kids climb the purple stile.
▪︎ Fourth stanza: The speaker tells the readers about further events. At the end of the day, the yellow boys and girls reach the other side, climbing the purple stile. On the other side, they are led by a dominion in grey. He gently put up the evening bars and led the flock away with him.
▪︎ Symbolic meaning:
Purple stile: life's way. They climb the purple stile, which shows the beginning of their life's journey from childhood, and reaching the other side presents the final stage of their life when they get old.
▪︎ Boys and girls: humans: They keep on moving on this journey, experiencing different things in life from birth to the final stage.
▪︎ When they reach the other side (final stage) of this long journey, completing different stages, a dominie in grey (God) plays the vital role of leading the humans and takes them along with him. Almighty God leads all those who reach the last stage of their lives. He (God) securely takes charge of all and leads the humans, closing the bars gently, i.e., closing life's gate. All these examples in the poem show the tremendous circle of life.
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POEMS IMPORTANT QUESTIONS' SOLUTION PACK
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
A Day by Emily Dickinson
BEFORE READING
Answer the following questions:
a. What kind of day do you like: rainy, sunny or foggy? Why?
Answer:
I like foggy days too much. The fog in my surroundings, especially in the hills, makes me feel so happy.
b. How does the sun tell us about different stages of a day?
Answer:
The sun tells us about different stages of a day with its appearance from morning until evening. Its initial appearance in the east as sunrise tells us about morning time. It is seen around the middle of the sky, telling us about noontime. And when it sets in the west, it tells us about evening time.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Answer the following questions:
a. How does the poet describe the morning sun in the first stanza?
Answer:
In the first stanza, the poet describes the morning sun presenting the stripe of ribbons in the sky, the deep violet colour like amethyst in the steeples of the churches, and the quick natural process of squirrels' running, which makes everyone aware of the morning.
b. What does the line ‘The news like squirrels ran’ mean?
Answer:
Here in this line, ‘The news like squirrels ran’, we find the use of simile where news, i.e., the sunrise, has been compared with squirrels' run using 'like'. This line has been applied to present the natural process of sunrise in the morning. Here, the sunrise, as well as the morning time, have been compared with squirrels' runs, i.e., the quick natural process of sunrise. This process is as quick as the run of squirrels, which makes everyone realise the arrival of a tremendous morning.
c. What do you understand by the line ‘The hills untied their bonnets’?
Answer:
By the line 'The hills united their bonnets', we understand the natural changes that appear in different places on this planet due to the presence of the sun. This line has been presented with metaphorical meanings. The poet has presented hills using personification. Here, the hills' bonnets have been metaphorically presented as the mists over the hills. As the sun rises, the heat rays of the sun untie the mists over the hills. The hills seem clear as the rays of the sun fall on them.
d. Is the speaker watching the morning sun? Why? Why not?
Answer:
No, the speaker isn't watching the morning sun. He or she is only describing the natural processes of sunrise and sunset and various changes that seem to affect beings and things that exist here on this planet. He or she seems quite innocent while saying, "That must have been the sun!" Here, he or she seems to guess about the possibility of the sun.
e. How does the sunset?
Answer:
The sun sets quite mysteriously and confuses the speaker a lot. He or she has less confidence in describing the sunset. According to him or her, the sun's rays seem purple and yellow during the time of its setting in the west. The sun takes away all the happiness and joy of daytime and leaves the unhappy and gloomy dark for all. At this point, he or she doesn't have an idea of what happens next.
REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT
a. What, according to the speaker, is a day?
Answer:
According to the speaker, a day is a perfect blend of various changes in nature. For him or her, a day consists of all the things within it that appear, from a wonderful sunrise to a mysterious sunset. The duration of the daytime from sunrise to sunset presents various literal and symbolic meanings regarding tremendous changes in nature and different stages of life from birth to death.
b. What purpose does the hyphen in the first line serve in the poem?
Answer:
A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark that's used to join words or parts of words. Here in this poem, the poet has used a hyphen in the very first line to create a more pronounced pause in reading. By using a hyphen, she has allowed herself greater control over the first line of the poem’s pace. The purpose behind this unique technique of using a hyphen is to present the speaker's deep emotions regarding being innocent. The speaker seems to emphasise her description of sunrise by pausing herself at the end of the first line.
c. What makes this poem lyrical and sonorous? Discuss.
Answer:
The poem "A Day" by Emily Dickinson is a wonderful creation that is full of both literal and symbolic meanings. This poem has tremendously presented a description of two beautiful aspects: the sunrise and the sunset. These two natural aspects have provided us with deeper meanings related to life and death. Following are some of the factors that make this poem lyrical and sonorous:
1. Description of Images:
The description of images with the use of literary comparisons sounds so lyrical and sonorous.
2. Symbolic meaning:
The deep symbolic meaning of the poem regarding life and death makes this poem so sonorous.
3. Usage of sound devices:
This poem is packed with special sound tools that the poet has used to create certain effects in the poem. We find the perfect use of the four most common sound devices - repetition, rhyme, alliteration, and assonance - in the poem that has made this poem so lyrical and sonorous.
d. Who is the target audience of the speaker? Why?
Answer:
Here, the speaker of the poem is an innocent child who describes a day along with two beautiful aspects (sunrise and sunset) of this natural world through his or her perspective. He or she may be telling all these natural processes of the sunrise and sunset of a day to all his or her friends. Here, we find the description of children in the poem by him or her. This poem seems quite close to the children on one level. But on the next level, the literal and symbolic meanings that the readers get from this poem are so deep and useful for all the human beings on this planet. Thus, the target audience of the speaker is both children and adults.
e. The poem seems to describe a day for children. How would the adult people respond to this poem? Discuss this poem with your parents/guardians and write the answer based on their responses.
Answer:
This poem, "A Day," is a wonderful description of a day. The speaker of this poem is an innocent child who seems to describe a day for the children. The speaker has used the perfect description of sunrise and sunset from his or her perspective. The beautiful description of sunrise and sunset seems quite applicable and interesting for the children. They get various beautiful images, one after another, with the direct meaning of the poem. The speaker keeps on portraying various beautiful changes in the natural world in his or her description.
The next aspect of this poem is its literal and symbolic meanings. These meanings are not suitable for kids. After reading this poem, the adults would try to analyse this poem and its meanings on a deeper level. They would try to get the deep meanings of the poem regarding sunrise and sunset. Their way of reading and grasping ideas is far different from that of children. The adults, as well as elderly people, would focus their attention on its literal and symbolic meanings. They would analyse the poem with the tremendous concepts of life and death.
The speaker simply describes the poem with two natural processes portraying different changes in this natural world, but the meanings behind this simple presentation are so deep and are related to the wonderful concepts of human life and death.
REFERENCE BEYOND THE TEXT
a. Observe your surroundings of one fine morning and write a poem based on your own experience.
Answer:
MORNING RAYS
Your arrival erases the old into the new
Every being shall wait for your fresh view
Immense of hidden mysteries you have always
Nothing I think the greater than you.
You have only known to provide all
Letting grace in various means of calls
Immense of beauty can be seen all around
Hopes stretch their wings in different souls
Feelings always get the way of moving ahead
As you touch me in my morning bed
I know thy grandeur till my birth
Nothing can be more important than thy on this entire earth
b. Write a personal essay on A Day in the School.
Answer:
A Day in the School
School days are so important and precious in everyone's life. These days are quite difficult to forget. Most people who have experienced school life are directly connected to their school days' memories. School days are quite joyful and entertaining. These days are mostly remembered because they remind us of our teachers, friends, studies, joys, and fun.
For all the students, a day in school is quite valuable. A single day for any student represents his or her overall activities in the school. A single day determines his or her daily classes, fun with friends, submission of class and home tasks, physical activities, manners, joy, etc.
School days make everyone realise the value of hard work as well as fun. Among many remarkable days, I always remember a funny day in my school when I got deceived by my senior students.
I still remember that Tuesday at my school. That was my first day at my new school after passing SEE. I arrived at school a bit late. I didn't know anyone there. Feeling nervous, I started my way ahead to find the principal's office. I didn't find a board of principal's office in front of many doors. After some time, I met some boys who seemed quite friendly to me. They helped me show the principal's office. They directed me towards the next building just behind the school's building. I thanked them and immediately moved towards hem. I entered a two-story building and moved upstairs. When I reached the hall on the second floor, I found a lot of girls there. They started laughing at me when I attracted their attention and asked about the principal's office. I told them about the boys. All the girls laughed again and informed me about the girls' hostel. I felt so ashamed to know about this fact. I rushed from there immediately after that.
I always burst into laughter when I remember that funny incident in my life. That was "a day in my school," when I was fooled by the senior students.
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DETAILED SUMMARY OF EVERY MORNING I WAKE BY DYLAN THOMAS
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