Poetry of Emily Dickinson in the Light of the Bhagavad-gita

Abstract

Emily Dickinson, now a celebrated poet, is still studied more from the subjective angles which belittle her stature than the objective ones which may contribute in highlighting her genuine poetic worth. This perspective is a modest attempt to decipher Dickinson’s poetry in the light of the Bhagavad-gita, the flashes of which are flashed in her concept of soul, self, non-attachment, renunciation, equanimity, happiness within, removal of false ego for peace and rejection of sense objects for a higher taste. A few relevant excerpts from the Bhagavad-gita and Dickinson’s poems have been analysed to trace out the spiritual light that reveals the path leading to her invisible connection with India. In her poems, she exhorts like Krishna of the Bhagavad-gita and reveals the truth of the material existence while making her journey from outside to inside. The application of the objective approach helps in bringing out the real worth of Emily Dickinson and contributes in connecting the threads of her poetry to the other parts of the world claiming for a universal appeal of her poetry.