Summary and Exercise of A Day : by Emily Dickinson
A Day
In this little poem a little child presents a simple description of the rising and the setting sun as s/he sees it.
It begins with the description of the sunrise and and things happen with it. The speaker describes the sunrise and every thing that happens with it very confidently. It (the sunrise) is compared to a ribbon. It rises slowly, and it looks like a ribbon opening up gradually. The sunrays fall on the steeple of the village church The news of the sunrise has spread very fast all over. With the sun-rays, the darkness over the hills are gone and the birds are singing beautifully.
At the sunset, the child speaker sees little children climbing over a stile (a set of steps). After they reach the other side, a dominie (perhaps a clergyman or a teacher) take the children back with him.
This poem can be analyzed on two levels. On the literal level, it simply describes the sunrise and the sunset. But in deeper level, it is about life and death.
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Stanza-Wise Analysis/ Paraphrasing:
The first Stanza:
I'll tell you how the Sun rose,-
A ribbon at a time.
The steeples swam in amethyst
The news, like squirrels, ran
[steeples = tall towers rising above the top of a church / amethyst = a valuable purple coloured stone]
Meaning/ Explanation:
This stanza is related to sunrise. As the sun rises, a stripe of ribbons is seen in the sky. Here the sunrays are referred to as ribbons. The sunrays are opening up gradually. The church steeples look covered with deep violate colour like amethyst.
[An image of a church steeple]
The news of this event (the sunrise) spreads all over as quick as squirrels run.
In a deeper level it can also be analyzed as the beginning of life, or childbirth.
The Secoond Stanza :
The hills untied their bonnets, (bonnet= a type of hat)
The bobolinks begun. (bobolink = a type of singing bird)
Then I said softly to myself,
"That must have been the Sun!"
(A Bobolink)
Meaning/ Explanation :
This stanza is also related with the sunrise and changes are seen with it.
With the sunrise it is bright everywhere. Now the hills, which were covered by darkness, are clearly seen. The hills are all revealed. It is as if the hills have taken out their bonnets (a type of hat mostly worn by ladies/ children).
The bonnets might be the clouds or might be the darkness over the hills, which had covered them (the hills). But now with the sunrise, the clouds have gone, and the hills are clearly seen. The whole nature is pleasant with the sunrise.
Even the birds are happy and are singing songs.
- Thus the conclusion of both these stanzas is that the sunrise comes with all the pleasurers. It comes with life and different activities.
- When the speaker says "That must have been the Sun!", we can guess that the speaker is a child because an adult would not be surprised at seeing a rising sun as s/he has been.
The Third Stanza :
But how he set, I know not.
There seemed a purple stile
Which little yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while
[stile= a set of steps that help people to climb over a fence or wall]
Meaning/ Explanation :
The third and fourth stanzas are about sunset. Here the speaker shows the his/her lack of confidence in describing sunset. S/he doesn't have any clear idea of it.
However, at the time of sunset s/he saw purple colours (of sun-rays) falling on a stile . Little children (may be they were playing there) climbing up the purple stile to go the other side perhaps for going home.
The Fourth Stanza :
Till when they reached the other side,
A dominie in grey (dominie = a school teacher/or a clergyman)
Put gently up the evening bars,
And let the flock away.
Meaning/ Explanation :
As the children go the other side of the stile, there came a dominie and took the children with him.
Perhaps the kids had completed their jobs,(might be grazing animals, or a day-full of studies at school, or some other errands) and now they were returning back home. Here the other side of the stile also indicates the lowest point of the sun before finally disappearing. Symbolically, the 'other side' might also mean the end of life.
- The children reaching the other side means bring the children from innocence to experience
- Thus the conclusion of the last two paragraphs is that the time of sunset has been as the last stage of human life. The purple stile (stairs) represents the different stages of human life, which we have to go through, that is crossing the stile of our life. When we go to the other side of the stile, 'dominie' in grey, (the God) kindly comes and takes us to our final destination.
Questions and Answers
Before reading :
Answer the following questions :
Question 1 : What kind of day do you like : rainy , sunny , or foggy?
Why ?
Answer : Certainly I like sunny days. There are several reasons behind it. Such days are always brighter. Every thing and everybody looks better in the sunshine. The sunshine provides Vitamin D which is a real mood changer. I find such days full of energy. We can perform and accomplish lots of works in such days.
Question 2 : How does the sun tell us about different stages of a day?
Answer : There are three different distinct stages of a day : the dawn, the day time, and finally the sunset, after which the evening comes. The sun can tell us lots about the different stages of a day through its position and colour.
For example, it rises in the east, it has a red colour. Gradually it goes up and up and the red colour goes and becomes brighter. In the mid day, it is above our head. The sun disk becomes white. At the sunset, it goes to the west, and again, at the time of setting it gets its red colour.
Understanding the Text :
Answer the following questions:
Question 1 : How does the poet describe the morning sun in the first stanza ?
Answer: The poet describes the morning sun in the first stanza. As the sun rises, it peeps out and its rays look like layers of ribbon opening up slowly. They (sun-rays) on the church steeples and they look swimming in amethyst. The news of sunrise spreads all over very fast quick.
Question 2 : What does the line 'The news like squirrels ran' mean ?
Answer : This line means that the news of sunrise has spread in the world very fast as a squirrel runs. It indicates the speed at which the news of sunrise spreads fast.
Question 3 : What do you understand by the line 'The hills untied their bonnets' ?
Answer : The meaning of this line is that with the spread of sun-rays the darkened blackness over the hills goes away and they (hills) look clear and distinct. The bonnets could be clouds/ or snow on the hills.
Question 4 : Is the speaker watching the morning sun ? Why ? Why not ?
Answer : No, the speaker is not actually watching the morning rising sun. Here s/he is narrating the event to somebody (may be his/ her friend) who has missed it. The very first line is "I will tell you how the sun rose". This indicates that now she is to narrate the event which she enjoyed earlier this morning.
Furthermore, the whole poem is is composed in the narrative tense (simple past tense).
Question 5 : How does the sun set ?
Answer: The speaker is not sure him/herself how the sun set . However while the sun sets, the purple turning sun-rays fall on the stile and some little children climb over it and go to the other side of it. There they are received by a dominie.
Symbolically, the other side of the stile is is the lowest point of the sun slowly disappearing.
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Reference to the Context :
Question 1 : What, according to the speaker, is a day ?
Answer : A day starts with rising sun. The sun brings all life, energy and activity. The gloomy fearful darkness of the night goes away. Birds start singing with pleasure. Thus day is the symbol of life and energy.
Question 2 : What purpose does the hyphen in the first line serve in the poem ?
Answer : A hyphen ( - ) is a punctuation mark. Emily Dickson is known for her peculiar use of punctuation marks.
Here by the use of hyphen she wants to emphasize the fact that with the sun-rise the rays are gradually spreading in a line over the hills, like a ribbon letting loose gradually.
Question 3: What makes this poem lyrical and sonorous ? Discuss.
Answer : A lyrical poem is a short thoughtful poem that features an individual speaker -- who may or may not be the poet. Speaker is mostly indicated by the pronoun "I". The poem contains powerful thoughts too. In this way the present poem is a lyrical poem.
The poem contains powerful thoughts. Although on the surface level it is a brief account of sun-rise and sun-set, it has a deep philosophical, spiritual and symbolical meaning. It is talking about the beginning and the end of life. This makes it a sonorous poem.
Question 4 : Who are the target audience of the speaker ? Why ?
Answer : The beautiful scenes of sun-rise and sun-set are presented from the perspective of an innocent child. It seems that she is narrating the events to his/her friend, who has missed it.
But considering it in a deeper level, this poem has a symbolic and spiritual depth, which certainly a child will not understand. So it is clear that the target audience are the matured people who can think about the themes of life and death.
question 5 : The poem seems to describe a day for children. How would the adult people respond to this poem ? Discuss the poem with your parents/guardians and write the answer based on their responses.
Answer : On the literal level, this poem describes a day for children. It starts with the description of a beautiful sunrise -- beginning of a day, and ends with sunset -- the end of the day.
The children audiences would be interested to know how the sun rose and what happened then, and how the sun set and what happened then.
But for adults it is an extended metaphor about life and death. So they will ponder over deeply while reading this poem.
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Reference beyond the text :
Write a personal essay on A Day in the School .
Answer : A school is a wonderful place. It is said that a child goes to school with tearful eyes on the first day , and and leaves it finally with tearful eyes.
It is a temple of learning. It is a place where we start our learning. Apart from learning to read and write, our school also teaches us valuable life lessons which we can incorporate (include/ take in)in our daily lives.
A school shapes us to become more responsible adults.
As my father is a government employee, he has a transferable job. So I have studied in several schools. But I have enjoyed my present school, where I was admitted in class 7.
I was little nervous that day , because I was going to join a new school. I was wondering how my new class fellows would be and whether my teachers would be very strict.
After my admission, my father left me there, and went back. Then the Principal called the class monitor and asked her to take me to the class.
She took me to the class and introduced me with the other class fellows. They all welcomed me as if I was their very old friend.
Then came the class teacher. He was quite young, smart and energetic. He had a kind smiling face. He asked me to introduce myself before the class, which I did, and all my friends clapped .
[With my new friends in class]
He was our Maths-teacher. His teaching was so nice. After the fourth period, came the recess time. That day I didn't have any tiffin. But my new friends shared theirs with me.
By that time the unknown fear was gone. It seemed I had been a student there for many years, and they were my old friends.
On the whole, it was very pleasant and interesting experience. I shall always remember that day.
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Some additional Questions and Answers
A. Answer the following questions with reference to the context :
1. I'll tell you how the Sun rose,-
A ribbon at a time.
The steeples swam in amethyst,
The news, like squirrels, ran.
Question A: What does the phrase 'a ribbon at a time mean' ?
Answer: The speaker has compared rays of the rising sun with ribbon. Here the phrase the indicates the the slow process of the sunrise, and its rays spreading gradually like a band of ribbon.
Question B: What does the word 'swam' suggest ?
Answer : The word suggests that the church steeples were covered completely with sunrays.
Question C : What news is referred to in the last line ?
Answer : It is the news of the sunrise that is referred to in the line.
Question D : What does 'like squirrels ran' tell you about the speed at which the news spread ?
Answer : It is a common sight that squirrels run very fast. Thus the use of this phrase tells the news spread at the speed of a running squirrels. In other words, the news spread very fast.
2. The hills untied their bonnets,
The bobolinks begun.
Question A : What do you mean by 'The hills untied their bonnets' ?
Answer : The simple meaning of this sentence is that as the sunrays fell on the hills and mountains, they became brighter, brighter and easily visible.
Question B : What did the bobolink 'begun' ?
Answer : The bobolink (a type of singing bird) started to sing with the sunrise as it was extremely glad with the sunset and wanted to give the news of the sunrise to others.
Question C : What kind of 'bonnets' could the hills have ?
Answer : Bonnets (a type of hat) might be something which kept the mountains/hills covered through the night. They might either clouds, snow or perhaps the darkness of the night which had covered hills the whole night.
3. Then I said softly to myself,
"That must have been the sun !"
Question A : Who do you think 'I' is ?/ Whom does 'I' refer to ?
Answer : Here the 'I' is the child persona (or the speaker) who is giving us the description of the sunset.
Question B : What time does 'then' refer to ?
Answer : Here 'then' refers to the early morning, when the sun is rising gradually spreading its rays.
Question C : What is the speaker talking about when she says 'that must have the Sun?
Answer : The meaning of this expression is that by observing the different events that time the speaker is inferring (reasoning/ concluding) that certainly the sun is rising.
Question D : Why does the speaker speak softly ?
Answer : S/he speaks softly because s/he is all alone there and so no reason to speak loudly.
4 .Question: What does the speaker want to tell about ?
Answer : The speaker wants to tell us about her observation of the sunrise and sunset.
5. Question : What happens when the sun rises ?
Answer : When the sun rises, it becomes brighter everywhere. The sunrays fall on the steeples, the distant hills become clearer and birds start singing.
6. Question : What happens when the sunsets ?
Answer : At sunset, little children , who were perhaps playing outside, climb a stile and go to the other side of it. There a guardian (may be their teacher) comes, and receives them and takes them away.
7. Question : What is it that the speaker doesn't know ?
Answer : The speaker doesn't know exactly how the sun set.
8. Question : What does the boys and girls do till they reach 'the other side'?
Answer : They climb up the stairs of the stile until they reach there.
9. Question : Who guides the children ?
Answer : A dominie in grey guide the children. He might be either a teacher or a guardian.
10. Question : Do you think the poem only about sunrise and sunset ?
Answer : It is only on the surficial level this poem is about sunrise and sunset, but is not only that. In a deeper level it is about life and death.
11. Question : Comment on the theme of the poem.
Answer : This poem has several themes. If it is about sunrise and sunset, it is about a transition from life to death also.
12. Question : What do you think is symbolized in the second stanza by the speaker ?
Answer : The second stanza symbolizes the life and activities brought by the sunrise.
13. Question : Explain the lines:
There seemed a purple stile
Which little yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while
Answer : These lines are from the third stanza. Here there is a shift from sunrise to sunset, symbolically from life to death. With the nearing sunset, there is purpling of the sky. The boys and girls are in fact human beings, and the climbing up every step of the stile indicates the growing age and experience.
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A Brief Analysis and Interpretation of the Poem :
- A Short View of the Poem : This poem is very famous for its double meaning and the use of intellectual metaphors. In literal sense, it presents a description of sunrise and sunset from a child's point of view. On this level we find the child speaker's innocence. But in a deeper level it tells about the transition from life to death.
- Genre/ Type of the Poem : It is a lyrical as well as metaphysical poem.
- Theme of the poem : The poem has several themes --
- a. The beauty of nature from the phenomenon of sunrise and sunset
- Publication : It was a posthumous publication. It was published in 1890, after the death of the poet (1886)
- Speaker : The speaker of this poem is an unnamed child
- Tone :
- Mood : A nostalgic mood : ("which little yellow boys ... all the while")
- The Poet : Emily Dickinson
- Some poetic devices used in the poem :
- Structure of the poem :
Wow very nice….Hope same type of guidelines in coming days also.
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