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A systemic approach to Emily Dickinsons 1400Introduction
Emily Dickinsons poems have been acclaimed all over the world but also considered bothdifficult and complex to analyze. Harold Bloom (2005:430) tells us that we are always
apprentices when we approach a poem by Emily Dickinson mainly due to its authenticdifficulty. In spite of such hindrance, the poet manages to arouse our admiration and she
undoubtedly creates texts of intense beauty. Susan Howe (1997) wrote: In prose and in
poetry she explored the implications of breaking the law just short of breaking off
communication with a reader.
The inherent complexity of the poems and, at the same time, the pleasure they bring to the
mind have challenged many critics and readers to find an explanation to this apparent
conflict. Kinnell (1997) claims: In my opinion, she could not have accomplished her great
work without making two technical innovations.[] Dickinson's chosen form requiresrhymes, which are scarce in English, at frequent intervals [...]Her other innovation protects
the density and dissonance of her poems from the singsong latent in common meter.
The Academy of American Poets explains that: Emily Dickinson made this same hymnmeter--and the emotionally spiritual content of Watts's biblical adaptations--the foundation
of her poetic.
Moreover, Bloom (2005: 434) wonders what we can do with Dickinsons genius, how we
can describe such a whimsical and conceptually original genius. He claims that she
surpasses all the other western poets, except Blake and Shakespeare, in cognitive
originality.
Functional Systemic Grammar provides a sound theoretical frame to account for the
complexity and beauty of Emily Dickinsons poems because systemic theory is grounded
on the notion that a language is interpreted as networks of interlocking options, of choices
of meanings. Discourse analysis based on Systemic Grammar focuses on the understanding
of texts and, on a higher level, on interpretation and evaluation of texts. This goal is very
much harder to attain. It requires an interpretation not only of the text itself but also of itscontext (context of situation, of culture), and of the systematic relationship between context
and text. (Halliday, 1997: XV)
In this paper, the genre of the text, written poetic genre, will be specially considered. For
us a genre is a staged, goal-oriented social process. Social because we participate in genreswith other people; goal- oriented because we use genres to get things done; staged because
it usually takes a few steps to reach our goals. (Martin & Rose, 2003: 7,8)
In written poetic genre, Theme analysis and the analysis of Theme progression allow us to
observe the flow of information and the accumulation of meanings. Martin (1999) follows
Friess assertion that the pattern of Themes constructs a texts method of development and
the pattern of News constructs its point. The hyper Theme or topic sentence makes it
possible to distinguish the Orientation of a text and its consequent Elaboration.
While hyperThemes predict what each phase of discourse
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will be about, new information accumulates in each clause as the phase
unfolds. In written texts in particular, this accumulation of new information
is often distilled in a final sentence that thus functions as a hyperNew to the phase.1
My analysis will try to explain Theme development in a poem by Emily Dickinson
following Functional Systemic Grammar. The objective is to describe Theme progression
and texture taking into consideration the works by J. R. Martin and to provide a descriptionof the distribution of communicative dynamism in the text.
Functional Systemic Analysis
Emily Dickinsons poems call for an explanation of the unusual strategies used and the
originality of her style, so the analysis of the Textual Metafunction seems relevant
because: When we look at language from the point of view of the textual metafunction, we
are trying to see how speakers construct their messages in a way which makes them fit
smoothly into the unfolding language event [] speakers constantly signal to them
(listeners) how the present part of their message fits in with other parts. (Thompson, 1997:117)
An attempt to explain Dickinsons poem will be undertaken by observing the construction
of Themes, Rheme and the meanings produced and communicated. The Theme is the
element which serves as the point of departure of the message. (Halliday, 1997:37)
The poem chosen is 1400. It was probably written in 1877 and it has not been often
analyzed.
1400
What mystery pervades a well!
That water lives so far --
A neighbor from another world
Residing in a jar
Whose limit none have ever seen,But just his lid of glass --
Like looking every time you please
In an abysss face!
The grass does not appear afraid,
I often wonder he
Can stand so close and look so bold
At what is awe to me.
1Working with Discourse (Martin & Rose, 2003: 182)
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Related somehow they may be,
The sedge stands next the sea --
Where he is floorless
And does no timidity betrayBut nature is a stranger yet;
The ones that cite her mostHave never passed her haunted house,
Nor simplified her ghost.
To pity those that know her not
Is helped by the regretThat those who know her, know her less
The nearer her they get.
An analysis of Theme and Rheme is presented in the following grid:
THEME RHEME
Textual Interpersonal Experiential Subject
(unmarked)
Process
What a mystery Pervades A well!
That water lives So far- a
neighbor from
another world
residing in a jarwhose limit none
have ever seen,
but just his lid of
glass-
Like lookingevery time youplease in anabysss face!
The grass Does not
appear
Afraid,
In oftenwonder
He Can stand So close
and look So bold at what is
awe to me.
Relatedsomehow
they May be,
The sedge stands Next the sea-
where he is
floorless and does
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not timidity
betray.
but Nature Is A stranger yet;
The ones that
cite her most
Have
never
passed
Her haunted
house,
nor simplified Her ghost.
To pity, Those thatknow her not
Is helped By the regret that
those who know
her, know her less
the nearer her
they get.
Thematic progression would be as follows:
Hypertheme
T1 R1 MYSTERY WELL linear mystery
T2 (R1) R2 WATER JAR progression
T3 (R2) JAR
T4 R3 GRASS FEAR constant
T5 (T4) R4 GRASS CLOSE parallel
T6 (T4) R5 GRASS BOLD progression
T7 (T2+T4) R6 THEY RELATED nature
T8 R7 SEDGE SEA linear
T9 (R7) R8 NATURE STRANGER progression
T10 R9 THE ONES NOT PASSED constantparallel
T11 (T10) R10 SIMPLIFIED GHOST progression
T12 R11 THOSE KNOW LESS not know
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It is interesting to appreciate the alternation of linear progression and constant parallel
progression. This alternation is broken twice when independent and marked Themes are
presented (Related somehow they and To pity those that know her not). These themesintroduce the Hyper Themes that derive from the first Hyper Theme: mystery. These Hyper
Themes summarize the message of the poem: Nature is a mystery that not even those who
approach her get to know.
Communicative Dynamism
A functional perspective, considers how the different parts of a sentence are organized and
in what way dynamism is conveyed.
A characteristic of communicative dynamism is that it is expressed linearly. The
participants in the Theme do not enable the reader to anticipate the Rheme the poem has,
and the New element increases dynamism, the water in the well is presented as a detached
and distant neighbor, we learn that grass is courageous and the sedge is not timid.
And at the same time, dynamism is also contextual because in the immediate relevant
context the Theme does not announce the New information the poem provides. Sharedknowledge of the world does not allow for the characteristics that the poem attributes to
Nature. Thus, the Rheme is surprising and increases the communicative dynamism. The
contextual factor harmonizes with the linear modification, creating a rise in thecommunicative dynamism.
Rhemes in the poem mention feelings: nostalgia, fear, courage, surprise, timidity, fear of
the unknown and pity. The emotional weight of the poem is kept for the Rheme, andinterpersonal elements appear in the Theme in the form of exclamations and adverbial
expressions.
The semantic analysis shows that there is a great impact on communication because the
semantic content of the verbs does not correspond to the participants. Also, the adverbial
complements that here modify the linear pattern have great dynamism because they areunexpected, this is the case of the wonder of the grass and Natures pity.
The poem presents a high communicative dynamism because there is interaction among the
three factors: semantic content of some verbs, the contextual element and the linear factor.
It is important to notice the processes used by Dickinson in this poem as it was already
mentioned in the previous analysis of communicative dynamism.
Mystery pervades relational process
Water- lives relational process
Grass- does not appear afraid relational process
stand behavioral process
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look bold relational process
Nature-is relational process
Ones never passed behavioral process
simplify her ghost
Those- not know mental processesIs helped
Those know- get
The Participants that belong to the world of nature, such as the water, the grass, the sedgeand nature itself, use mainly relational processes, and only one is a behavioral process.
The human Participants, those who know nature and those who do not, those who get close
to nature, and both the reader and the poet express mental processes and one behavioral
process.
Relational processes stand for the permanence of nature, humans watch and admire nature
through reason, and this is expressed through mental processes, that is the reason why
humans cannot understand nature. Emily Dickinson seems to believe that reason is not the
right way to approach nature, the only possibility being through feelings, the world of
feelings expressed in the Rheme of the poem.
Texture
Martin defines texture asone aspect of the study of coherence, which takes the social context
of texture into consideration. The goal of discourse analysis in this
tradition is to build a model that places texts in their social contexts
and looks comprehensively at the resources which both integrate
and situate them.2
Within this aspect he includes the study of cohesion as a set of discourse semantic systems.
One of these systems is identification (concerned with resources for tracking participants indiscourse), another one is conjunction (concerned with resources for connecting messages,
via addition, comparison, temporality and causality), and thirdly, the system of ideation
(concerned with the semantics of lexical relations as they are deployed to construe
institutional activity). (Martin,2003: 38)
2Working with Discourse: Meaning beyond the clause. (Martin, and Rose, 2003:35)
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In the poem, we find:
1: reference chains:
A well- that water- abyss
The grass-he they
That water
A jar-whose
Limit-his
The sea-he
Nature-her-her-her-her-her-her-her
Those-they
The ones thatThose that
Those who
2: conjunctions:
Like looking every time you please in an abysss face! (comparison)
And-but-nor
Related somehow (comparison)
To pity (causality)
3: lexical chains:
mystery
well-water-jar-abyss-stranger-ghost
fear-not afraid- in wonder-bold-awe-floorless-haunted
far-close-next
less-nearergrass-sedge
well-water-abyss far awe to me
grass-he not afraid-close-bold
sedge-sea nextnature-stranger
the ones that cite-not passed-haunted house-nor simplified-ghost
those that know not-regretthose who know-know less
A text is coherent as far as its coherence is consistent with its situational context and its
register. In this sense we say that the text is inherently coherent and cohesive. The poem
analyzed is coherent with its poetic genre by using personifications and metaphors.
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The poem 1400 presents a coherent texture because it is adequate to its poetic registerand shows coherent relations in its ideational, reference and conjunction systems.
Theme and Rhem in a translation to Spanish
Henry Weil claims that thinking processes differ from syntax, and consequently word order
must be respected over syntactic relations because syntax (functions) represents something
that can be perceived and does not change, while the order of words represents the thinking
process.
The analysis of Theme and Rheme in the Spanish version of the poem translated by
Margarita Ardanaz (2004) will show if the interpretations of the poem in its original
language can be kept for the translation.
1400
Qu misterio colma un pozo!
Pues vive el agua tan lejos-
Un vecino de otro mundo
Que reside en una jarra
Cuyo lmite nadie ha visto nunca,
Slo su tapa de cristal-Cmo mirar cada vez que se quiera
en el rostro de un abismo!
La hierba no parece tener miedo,
A veces me pregunto si l
Puede permanecer tan cerca y parecer tan osadoAnte lo que para m es temor reverencial.
De alguna forma pueden estar relacionados
El junco junto al mar se encuentra-
Donde l est sin suelo
Y no delata timidez alguna
Mas la naturaleza sigue siendo un extrao;Los que la citan ms
No han traspasado nunca su mansin hechizadaY no han simplificado su fantasma.
Compadecerse de los que la ignoran
Se fomenta con el remordimiento
De que quien la conoce, la conoce menos
Cuanto ms se le acerca.
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TEMA REMA
Textual Interpersonal Experiencial Sujeto (nomarcado)
Proceso
Qu misterio colma Un pozo!
Pues vive el agua tan lejos-Un vecino de otro
mundo
que reside en una
jarra cuyo lmitenadie ha visto
nunca,
slo su tapa decristal-
Cmo mirarcada vez que
se quieraen el rostro de
un abismo!
La hierba No parece tener miedo,
A veces me pregunto si l puedepermanecer tancerca y parecer
tan osado ante lo
que para m estemor
reverencial.
De algunaforma
pueden estar relacionados,
El juncojunto
al mar
se
encuentra-
donde lest sin
sueloy no delatatimidez alguna
Mas La naturaleza sigue siendo Un extrao;
Los que la
citan ms
No han
traspasado
nunca su mansin
hechizada
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y No han
simplificado
Su fantasma
Compadecerse
de los que laignoran
se fomenta Con el
remordimiento
de que quien la
conoce, la conoce
menos cuanto
ms se le acerca.
There are differences between the marked subjects in both versions. There is ambiguity in
the subject he in the third stanza. Although the message is not changed, the development
of Theme is not as clear as in the original version. However, feelings are still placed in the
Rheme and communicative dynamism is kept by the semantic factor of the processes. Theadverbial expressions do not add dynamism to the linear factor in Ardanazs translation.
Conclusions
Functional Systemic Grammar can account for the beauty and complexity of the poem
1400 in an organized and methodic way. The study of the thematic function, especially in
the original language, highlights the ability of the poet at creating a highly dynamic text and
organizing the flux of information through hyper Themes, this approach shows also therhythm and regularity obtained by the succession of Themes.
The selection of the semantic content of the processes, even though it is clearly typical ofthe metaphoric language of poetic genre, serves the purpose of considering the opposition
between reason and feelings as ways of understanding nature.
The text is cohesive and coherent with its context of situation and of culture, and the textualmeanings provide an order to the message and make it relevant.
The use of Functional Systemic Grammar does not invalidate the explanations coming
from other fields but its tools help us explain how the selection of themes and their
progression construct a text that produces surprise and admiration and the analysis of thetextual metafunction shows how the authors vision of the world is built and how her
message is organized in the poem.
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Bibliography
Bloom, Harold (2005) Genios . Norma: Bogot.
Dickinson, Emily (2004) Poemas. Edicin Bilinge de Margarita Ardanaz Ctedra:
Madrid
Halliday, M. (1994).An Introduction to Functional Grammar. Segunda Edicin
Arnold: London.. Quinta Impresin 1997.
Howe, Susan (1997)My Emily Dickinson (excerpts)
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/my-emily.html
Kinnell, Galway (1997)Reckless Genius
http://www.salon.com/feature/1997/11/cov_03kinnell.html
Martin, J. R. (1999) Grace: the logogenesis of freedom inDiscourse Studies 1 (1):
29-56
Martin, J. R. y Rose, D. (2003) Working with Discourse: Meaning beyond the
clause. Continuum: London and New York
Martin, J.R and Rose, D. (2003). Working with Discourse. Continuum. London.
The Academy of American Poets - Isaac Watts & Emily Dickinson: Inherited Meter
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5814
Thompson, G. (1996).Introducing Functional Grammar. Arnold: London. Segunda
Edicin 1997.
Weil, Henri (1844)De lordre des mots dans les langues anciennes comprees aux
langues modernas
Acknowledgments
To Ann Borsinger who introduced me to Functional Systemic Grammar.
To Laura Roseti, Alicia Nerguizian and Marina Fernndez who helped me with invaluable
suggestions when editing my work.