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Bushgjokaj, Arben: "Provinces in the Being’s Centre: Key Places from the Earthly Life of Jesus Christ in Some Poems by Emily Dickinson"

Provinces in the Being’s Centre: Key Places from the Earthly Life of Jesus Christ in Some Poems by Emily Dickinson

Arben Bushgjokaj, “Luigi Gurakuqi” University of Shkodra, Albania

This paper will focus on allusions and direct references to key places in the life of Jesus Christ as they appear in Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Dickinson’s view of the world transcends not only boundaries of space, but also those of time. The poet chose to leave New England and, in some of her Christ poems, visit places where Jesus lived and worked. Some of the key places alluded or referred to in Dickinson’s poems relate to representative significances, especially spiritual and emotional. For instance, the image of Bethlehem is one of utmost significance for the connection of Jesus the Savior with humanity. There are various allusions to Judea which included most of the places where Jesus spent much of his earthly life and conducted his ministry. In Dickinson’s words, it was the place for the journey. Other allusions revisit Gethsemane which could be seen as a signifier of hope, that one day the anguish and tragedy of the individual will be explained. The image of anguish associated with Christ, and more specifically with the moments starting from Gethsemane, depicts the life of the speaker whose anguish and suffering ‘scald [her] now’. The poems focus on the future release of anguish and suffering which the persona shares with Christ.