it sifts from leaden sieves by emily dickinson.. it sifts from leaden sieves by emily dickinson...

It Sifts from Leaden Sieves

By Emily Dickinson .

It sifts from Leaden SievesBY EMILY DICKINSON (1830-1886)

It sifts from Leaden Sieves —It powders all the Wood.It fills with Alabaster WoolThe Wrinkles of the Road —It makes an Even FaceOf Mountain, and of Plain —Unbroken Forehead from the EastUnto the East again —It reaches to the Fence —It wraps it Rail by Rail Till it is lost in Fleeces —

It deals Celestial VailTo Stump, and Stack - and Stem —A Summer’s empty Room —Acres of Joints, where Harvests were,Recordless, but for them —It Ruffles Wrists of PostsAs Ankles of a Queen —Then stills its Artisans — like Ghosts —Denying they have been —

Analysis

It sifts from Leaden Sieves —It powders all the Wood.

• It is unidentified. What is “it”? Our guess for now is (snow).• Metaphor: clouds that produce

the snow are likened to leaden sieves. Snowfall is likened to sifting.

Personification

• Snow is given human characteristics in this poem: it sifts and powders and changes, though temporarily, the face of the earth.

Leaden

Definition of leaden in Oxford Dictionaryadjective1- Dull, heavy, or slow:his eyelids were leaden with sleep2- Of the colour of lead: dull grey:a leaden sky

• Snow is also likened to a powder: just like powder it is extra soft and can spread over things.

It fills with Alabaster WoolThe Wrinkles of the Road —

It makes an Even FaceOf Mountain, and of Plain —

Unbroken Forehead from the EastUnto the East again —

Alabaster

Wool

Alabaster and wool

• An oxymoron is a figure of speech that juxtaposes elements that appear to be contradictory.• “Alabaster Wool” seem

contradictory, since one is a hard, heavy substance, while the other is soft and fluff.

Another contradiction

• Snow is likened to wool, even though snow is cold, while wool is used in garments to maintain warmth.

Metaphor

• The land is resembled to a face: “wrinkles”, “face”, “forehead”. Even the words alabaster comes in collocation with the word (skin), as in (alabaster skin).

Metaphor: Death?

• Winter season comes after fall. In autumn, the earth loses its beauty with leaves of trees turning yellowish and falling. Trees are bare of leaves and fruits – with harvest-.

• Can these line mean that after the “death” of the earth in fall, the sky –like a sister- shrouds earth in white – as in covering corpses?

Another metaphor: rejuvenation?• Nature wears a white suit of snow during

winter. If by connotation of whiteness of snow, earth is an old woman, then the powdering process is to hide the earth’s decadent features. Winter becomes the first stage of the earth’s rejuvenation.

It makes an Even FaceOf Mountain, and of Plain —Unbroken Forehead from the EastUnto the East again —Comment:All the landmarks of the earth now are even and equal against the power of snow. East is emphasized as a point for the beginning of the snow cover: Is it because the east is connected to sunrise? The beginning of the day?All in all, winter is the first stage of transformation of nature back to youth.

An extended metaphor

• The poem carries an extended metaphor of snow and fabric. Can you find the clues?

It reaches to the Fence —It wraps it Rail by Rail

Till it is lost in Fleeces —

• The snow works very attentively efficiently in covering the rails.

Punctuation

• This poem is unique in the way sentences are ended not by a full-stop, but by a hyphen. • What is the significance of this on

the meaning of the poem?

Capitalization

Sound•This poem utilizes assonance, consonance, and alliteration.

Assonance

• It is the repetition of vowel sounds in adjacent words.

• Example:It sifts

Consonance

• It is the repetition of a consonant sound in words that are close to each other.

• Example:It sifts from Leaden Sieves.

Alliteration

It is the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of adjacent words. It is a type of consonance.Example from the poem:It sifts from Leaden Sieves

زهوردنقل أمل المصري للشاعر

, الور�د مَن� وسالٌل�

وإفاقه إغفاءٍة! بيَن� ألمُح(ها

باقٍة! كل, وعلى

�طاقه ب في �ها حام�ل اسُم(

***

الجميله3 هراُت( الَز� لي �ُحدُث( �َت َتدهشٍة; - - َع�ْت3 ?َس� اَت �ها (َن �عي أ أن

, الق�ط3ف لُحظٍة�, الق�ص3ف لُحظٍة�

! الخميله3 في إعدامها لُحظٍة

.. لي �ُحدُث( �َت َت

اَتيَن البَس� في ها عرِش� على مَن3 ق�طْت3 س� �نها أ

, , الم(َناديَن أيدي بيَن� أو الدكاكيَن� جاِج� ز( في ِض�ها ع�ر3 على �ف�اق�ْت3 أ ثُم

�رْه3 الَعاب �فِّض,لٍة( المَت اليد( 3ها َت اِشَتر� حَتى

.. لي �ُحدُث( �َت َت

.. Nإلي جاءُت3 كيف

) الخِّض3ر�) أعَناق�ها َترفع �كيٍة( المل (ها وأحَزان

! الَع(مر� لي� �مَني �َت َت كي

!! اآلخرْه3 ها بأنفاس� َتجود( وهي

***

.. باقْه� كُّل�

وإفاقْه� إغماءة بيَن�

.. ثانيْه� - - ثانيًة� بالكاِد� ثِل�َى� ِم� تتنفُس�

... راضيْه� - حم�ِلْت� صدر�ها وعِلَى

! بطاقْه� في قات�ِلها اسَم�