Weather Poem EC

A Thunderstorm Emily Dickinson

The wind begun to rock the grass
With threatening tunes and low, -
He flung a menace at the earth,
A menace at the sky.

The leaves unhooked themselves from trees
And started all abroad;
The dust did scoop itself like hands
And throw away the road.

The wagons quickened on the streets,
The thunder hurried slow;
The lightning showed a yellow beak,
And then a livid claw.

The birds put up the bars to nests,
The cattle fled to barns;
There came one drop of giant rain,
And then, as if the hands

That held the dams had parted hold,
The waters wrecked the sky,
But overlooked my father's house,
Just quartering a tree.

How is weather used in the poem?

Thunder is the main topic of the poem and "the menace" in the first stanza is the thunderstorm. The rain in the poem is described as being so strong it causes leaves from the trees to blow off. It also describes the rain by saying that it wrecked the sky.

How does the poet's knowledge of weather enhance the poem?

The poet's knowledge of weather enhances the poem by the way the poet knows that when frightening weather approaches an area, animals react and have a sixth sense about it. In the poem it says "The birds put up the bars to nests, The cattle fled to barns". Also, right before it begins to shower in an area, it becomes very windy, and in the poem Dickinson says "the leaves unhooked themselves from the trees" and this is said before it has even started to rain.

What type of weather is discussed?

The weather that is mentioned in the poem is thunder, rain, and wind. So basically all the elements of a thunderstorm are described.

Would the poem be the same without the mention of weather?

If the title were taken away (The Thunderstorm) then you could still imagine that the poem was about a thunderstorm or some sort of storm taking place because the poem describes different elements of the thunderstorm without telling you that it's a thunderstorm. The poem doesn't even tell you there's wind---you can just infer it.

What literary techniques are used in the poem in regards to weather?

Dickinson uses the line "The waters wrecked the sky" and it is an example of personification. In real life water can't wreck the sky, but sometimes it looks like it does wreck the sky.

Does this poem further your knowledge about weather?

The poem doesn't enhance my knowledge of weather too much, although it is a great poem. I think in order to understand the poem you need to have previous knowledge of weather. A lot of the poem is inferring what kind of weather it's talking about.