"The Mumur of a Bee"THE murmur of a bee

A witchcraft yieldeth me.
If any ask me why,
'Twere easier to die
Than tell.

The red upon the hill
Taketh away my will;
If anybody sneer,
Take care, for God is here,
That's all.

The breaking of the day
Addeth to my degree;
If any ask me how,
Artist, who drew me so,
Must tell!

Analysis/ Comment

As usual, nature is again used as a metaphor to describe the poet’s life. Emily Dickinson explains how magic interferes, “ pollutes”, and stops her imagination, creativity and her freedom to write poems. Next, she states that enlightenment makes her lazy to write poems on her own. Then, if people laugh or judge her work, she would have God’s help to give her strength to continue. Finally, Dickinson concludes claiming that when her inspirations add to her knowledge, the “Artist” would guide her to write. If one knows what he/she wants to do, no matter how people try to influence you (with their ideas), always stick to your ideas; because that way, one would realize that it is actually oneself that is guiding themselves.

In the 1^st and 2^nd stanza of “The Murmur of the Bee”, carries a rhyme scheme of AABB, but ends with the 3^rd stanza without any signs of rhymes. Metaphors is an evident element of this poem because, for example, the “murmur of the bee”(L1, S1) refers to actually rumors of people criticizing Emily’s work; “witchcraft” is the magic that stops her imagination; “the red upon a hill” in the 2^nd stanza is afternoon etc. Also, the poet cuts or adds syllables to words in order to make each verse contain exactly 6 syllables, except for the last verses of the 3 stanzas that only include two syllables.