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what does the poem "You Can Not Put a Fire Out" by Emily Dickinson mean?
I would appreciate it if some one can give me an interpretation of the poem as well as the meaning. Thank You
The poem is the following:
You cannot put a Fire out --
A Thing that can ignite
Can go, itself, without a Fan --
Upon the slowest Night --
You cannot fold a Flood --
And put it in a Drawer --
Because the Winds would find it out --
And tell your Cedar Floor --
Okay, (these are just ramblings, which I hope will make senese in the end and allow you to come to your own conclusions.) first of all....considering that Dickinson was a closet poet, her poems were not discovered until she died this poem could be a note to herself. For example...In line could be her saying to herself, that her imagination (which has often been associated without being on fire) cannot be stopped. Also, because it is a thing that can ignite, which means the words, images of poems just come to her and that they don't need any fuel to make it go, and even when the night is slow, the imagination can still catch fire. Also, if you notice the second stanza there is a change in elements...she goes from fire..to water. Thus, you get the two extremes. She would like to put out the fire, she would like to stop the flood, but it seems impossible. Also, if you notice, she uses the words, "cannot fold a Flood." To me, that implies that there has been a flood of emotions that she does not want to make public, thus folding them in a drawer. It has been stated that when you write something you release it, and sometimes the release is like a flood, a flood of emotions. However, what she states is that once the flood has happened you cannot put it away. While it can be said that the words on the page can be folded, torn up, or burned, however, once they are on the page they have been given life. Once again, she changes elements. The winds, in literature have been known to carry secrets (Greek mythology thing). However, due tot he winds being able to howl during storms, like hurricanes, they are given a slight human quality. Also, due to the her mentioning the Cedar floor and the time in which she lived many secrets were kept in the floor thus implying that the secrets of the fire, of the flood, would speak to the floor, which was already hiding other poems and tell them about each other. Interpretation: When exploring the use of nature throughout the poem, it can be assumed that Dickinson might have viewed writing as a natural thing she uses nature to convey how it is fire and flood (water). How it's comes burning and leaves you wet "sweating" when done...it has a feeling of being hysterical. How writing poetry is a natural thing. However, it also implies danger due to the nature of fire and flood and the inability of the writer take back what they have written. Okay, I think I have said enough.
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