A Day By Emily Dickinson : : Exercise | Poem | Class 12 English Literature

A Day

Summary:
Emily Dickinson in her poem “A Day,” describes a beautiful day that brings the children from innocence to experience using brilliant imagery and symbols.
Emily describes the sunset and sunrise as a village and the things in that village in this poem. However, the poem also portrays the difficulty in recognizing the world and environment around us. In the Poem, the speaker of the poem clearly describes how the sun rises, what happens after the sun rises, and how the sun sets. When the Sun first rises, its ribbon-like rays fall over the steeple of the church, transforming its color to amethyst. Sunrise’s news spreads as fast as the Squirrels can run. In the early morning light, the dark hills are seen, and a small American bird, the bobolink, begins to sing. The warmth of the Sun makes all living things happy and pleasant. The speaker speaks to himself to be confirmed about the Sunrise with its lovely and magnificent beams. The poem is written in four different beautiful stanzas, each of them describing a beautiful day using various imagery and symbols. We can divide the poem into two parts: an eight-line segment describing the sunrise and an eight-line segment describing the speaker’s misunderstanding of the sunset.

Understanding The Text

Answer the following questions.

1. How does the poet describe the morning sun in the first stanza?
   Ans:  In the first stanza of this poem, the speaker describes the rising sun in the early morning. The first beautiful golden rays of the sun extend like ribbons around it. It makes everything bright and visible. It changes the color of the steeple into amethyst.
2. What does the line ‘The news like squirrels ran’ mean?
   Ans:  The line "The news like Squirrels ran" in the first stanza means that the news of the rising of the sun along with the casting its rays spreads as fast as squirrels run. The news of the arrival of the sun on the horizon is compared with the quick running of the squirrels using the word "like".
3. What do you understand by the line "The hills untied their bonnets"?
   Ans:  Before the sun rises, the hills are sunk in the bonnet of darkness. After the sun rises all the hills look beautiful in fine green color. The hills throw away their bonnets when they are touched by the first rays of the sunlight. The hills are personified in this line as they untie their bonnets like women.
4. Is the speaker watching the morning sun? Why? Why not?
   Ans:  Yes, the speaker is watching the rising sun. The speaker is observing the change in color of the steeple into amethyst, untied bonnets of the hills. He is also listening to the singing of the beautiful bobolinks and all these events confirm that the speaker is watching the morning sun.
5. How does the sun set?
   Ans:  Actually, the speaker is unknown to the setting sun. She doesn't know where the sun goes after its sets. The purple and yellow colors indicate the setting of the sun, but she doesn't know what happens after it because of the lack of knowledge about the sunset.

Reference to the Context 

1. What, according to the speaker, is a day?
   Ans:  According to the speaker, a day is about the simplicity of life's ordinary things through his/her innocent eyes.
2. What purpose does the hyphen in the first line serve in the poem?
   Ans:  A hyphen (-) is a punctual mark used in writings to join works or parts of words. In poetry, a hyphen is used to show pause. Emily Dickinson uses punctuation marks in her poem in an innovative way. She uses hyphens if she doesn't find the suitable words to express deep emotions, to granting readers to imagine and complete the missing words and to show the power of silence in front of certain situations. It is also used to give a sudden emphasis.
3. What makes this poem lyrical and sonorous? Discuss.
   Ans:  The poem "A Day" by Emily Dickinson is both a lyrical and sonorous poem. The poem is lyrical in the sense that it expresses personal feelings or emotions in the first-person narration. The first pronoun "I" used in lyrical poems indicates the poetic persona. This poem is very short, and the poetess is expressing her personal experience of observing sunrise. The word "Sonorous" means full of sound and rich in verse or language. Several things make a poem musical and melodious. Sound devices alliteration, assonance, rhyme, and rhythm make a poem musical.
4. Who are the target audience of the speaker? Why?
   Ans:  The audience is the target people whom a writer writes or composes any poem. In the poem, the world is seen through the eyes of an innocent child. It looks beautiful and miraculous but mysterious at the end. The speaker is narrating the sunrise as the first line says, "I'll tell you how the sun rose." From this perspective, we can say that the target audiences are those fellow children who have missed observing this beautiful sunrise as they awake late in the morning. When we analyze the poem philosophically, the entire humankind is also the target audience. The beautiful sunrise indicates the beginning of life, the activity of the entire day is a journey of life, and the setting of the sun represents death.
5. The poem seems to describe a day for children. How would the adult people respond to this poem? Discuss this poem with your parents/guardians and write the answer based on their responses.
   Ans:  The poem "A Day" in a literal sense describes the sunrise, phenomena after sunrise and sunset. But in a philosophical sense, the poem talks about the transition from life to death. The poem tells us about the excitement from the beginning of life and, a squirrel running like life and the mysterious ending of a life.

Reference beyond the text 

1. Observe your surroundings of one fine morning and write a poem based on your own experience. Ans:  To write a poem according to this question, you can look around you're surrounding by getting up early in the morning. You may see birds, fog, houses, sun and experience a peaceful environment in the morning time. To write a good poem, pick a specific theme or idea from the objects you see in the surrounding. You can also use simile, metaphor, and other literary devices to give the best touch to your poem.
2. Write a personal essay on A Day in the School.
   Ans:

   A Day

   As the sun slowly rose over the horizon, I woke up to a brand-new day, excited to start my journey once again. The day I'm talking about is a typical school day, one that I experience five times a week. Even though the thought of sitting in a classroom for hours on end may seem mundane to some, to me, it is an opportunity to learn, grow and explore new horizons.

   My day started with a flurry of activity as I got ready for school. After grabbing a quick breakfast, I made my way to the bus stop, where I met up with my friends. We chatted excitedly about our plans for the day, wondering what new things we might learn in class, and discussed our plans for the weekend.

   Once I reached school, I made my way to my first class, which was math. The teacher greeted us with a warm smile and started the lesson promptly. The lesson was about quadratic equations, and we spent most of the class learning how to solve them. The teacher made the class engaging and interactive by involving us in the problem-solving process, and by the end of the class, I felt confident in my ability to solve quadratic equations.

   Next up was English, where we were discussing a classic novel. The teacher encouraged us to think critically and to analyze the book in-depth. We discussed the characters, the themes, and the author's intentions. The class was challenging, but it was also enjoyable, and I came out of it with a deeper understanding of the novel.

   After English, I had a break, where I caught up with my friends and grabbed some lunch. We talked about our interests, our hobbies, and the latest news. It was a welcome respite from the intense classes.

   My third class was science, where we were learning about the human body. We learned about the various organs, how they function, and their importance. The teacher made the class fun by incorporating interactive activities, such as quizzes and games.

   The last class of the day was history, where we were discussing World War II. We talked about the various battles, the causes, and the aftermath. The class was informative, and I learned a lot about the war.

   As the day ended, I felt a sense of accomplishment. I had learned so much, and I felt grateful for the opportunity to be in school. As I made my way home, I reflected on the day's events, and I felt excited about what the future holds. Each day in school is a chance to grow and learn, and I'm grateful for that opportunity.