From all the jails the boys and girls Ecstatically leap,- Beloved, only afternoon That prison doesn't keep.In this poem Emily shows her feelings towards formalized schooling. Being a product of reputable college one would think that she would be in favor of this. But as her beliefs in transcendentalism grew so did her belief in individuality. Emily also went against the Church which was an extreme rarity of the time. Similar to many other that shared her beliefs she too did not think that a set religion was the way for salvation. Some keep the Sabbath going to Church; I keep it staying at home, With a bobolike for a chorister, With an orchard for a dome.According to this poem Emily clearly states that nature is her source of guidance and she has little need for the Church as an institution. Like Thoreau, Emily believed that people need to understand nature before they could begin to comprehend humanity because humanity was just a part of nature. Unlike many other she felt that nature was beautiful and must be understood. Has it feet like water-lilies? Has it feathers like a bird? Is it brought from famous countries Of which I have never heard? (Will there really be a morning?)Further on in the poem she goes on to ask if the scholar or "some wise man from the skies" knows where to find morning. It can be inferred that morning, something so common place and taken for granted, cannot be grasped by even the greatest so called minds. Emily also saw the frightful part of nature, death was an extension of the natural order. Probably the most prominent theme in her writing is death. She took death in a relatively casual way when compa...
