REPORT ON EMILY DICKINSON Theres Been A Death In The Opposite House.

Theres been a death in the opposite house As lately as today I know it by the numb look Such houses have always The neighbours rustle in and out The doctor drives away A window opens like a pod Abrupt, mechanically Somebody flings a mattress out The children hurry by They wonder if it died on that I used to when a boy The minister goes stiffly in As is the house were his And he owned all the mourners now And little boys besides And when the milliner and the man Of the appalling trade To take the measure of the house Therell be that dark parade Of tassels and of coaches soon, Its easy as a sign The intuition of the news In just a country town - Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

The title of the poem above is Theres been a Death in the Opposite House . This poem was not published during Emily was still alive. To be exact , only two poems of Emily was published during her life. As we can see from the poem above , the main character is not obvious. We can take the persona as the the character but it is not very clearly stated. Moving on the othe other characters , we can obviously see (1) neighbours , (2) children , (3) milliner , (4) doctor ,(5) undertaker and (6) minister . These characters actually plays a big part in describing the whole situation of the setting where it will be discussed later on. The trait from each character cannot be seen that literally but it can be seen as whole community as in they are quite a caring community. They poke their nose into the issues that occurs around them . Setting can be divided into three components as in place , social and time setting. The place as we can see is that the death happened in a house in a small village . It may be Emilys house as Emilys isolated herself from the society for some time. Social setting can be explained when we see the society of the village is actually quite caring and superstitious .They see death as a scary occurrence and is very afraid of it. The caring society can be seen through stanza 2 ,line 1.The neighbours rustle in and out . This shows that the people there take notice of the happening around the village. As for the superstitious society , we can clearly see in stanza 3, line 1 . Somebody flings a mattress out . As the people believe the dead body actually leave bad luck to the family if the mattress was still in the house . We can also say that the society is a society full of curiosity . This is clearly potrayed in stanza 3,line 2 4. (The children hurry by ,They wonder if it died on that , I used to when a boy) . As for time setting, it is not stated in the poem but I guess it is in the morning as the minister walk in the house. We all know that they only work in the morning. The narrator of the poem is actually is a boy which is using I . He is a grown-up as in stanza 3, ( I used to when a boy ) . It is a first person point of view . This is clearly shown in I . I is narrating the whole incident that is happening The poem is in the chronological order where it all begin with there is a death in the village or countryside . Then the neighbours walk in and out from the house and the doctor came to confirm the death . Somebody throws the mattress out and the children gathered around and was curious if the man died on it . The minister walks in and calm the mourners and the undertaker measure the dead body to decide the coffin that to be made . The hat-maker arrives to take the measurement for the hat the deceased is supposed to wear.Next, the undertaker arrives to get the measurement to build the coffin.Then the funeral procession where everyone will wear black attire will take place. The tassels (ornaments), the funeral procession which includes coaches (horse and carriage) followed by mourners, are signs that death has occurred. In Theres Been A Death In The Opposite House, the persona shows an atmosphere of gloominess throughout the poem. The persona is expressing grief or sadness that is often associated with death. People are sad and mourn over the loss of someone who is dear to them.

In the poem, death is expressed through the use of selected words by the poet. These words are lately, numb, mechanically, stiffly, mourners, man of the appalling trade and dark parade. The poet creates the tone of gloominess and grieving over the loss of someone dear to the family or even the community. The persona is just an observer. However, he too accepts the reality of the situation and shares the family's or neighbour's grief and loss. The main theme of the story is death is a natural occurrence. Yet, it is a sad event for those who lose a loved one . The persona knows that one of his neighbours is dead. He sees a mattress thrown out from the window and children hurrying by. He knows that the children are wondering if the dead person has died on the mattress. He has undergone similar experiences as a boy. The persona knows that neighbour go in and out of the house to pay their last respect to the deceased. He also knows that it is not necessary to make known that a person is dead in the community, as there are ways to know it. The doctor is around and when he leaves, the minister arrives to see the family; the milliner and the man of the appalling trade do their part to get on with the funeral. Similarly, the funeral procession would take place, and the mourners and others would be around. This is how people deal with death in the neighbourhood, as seen through the eyes of the persona. He shares his experience with the audience. The symbols of death are numbness and stiffness. The word house symbolises the place where the body is placed, and also the coffin. The irony in the poem relates to the the man of the appalling trade. It is an irony that a job that is very important, which is preparing the coffin for the dead person is considered a disturbing and unappealing job. It is a job that someone has to do. It is the final thing in getting the body placed in a coffin to carry on with the funeral services and burial.