Journal 41 "When I hoped I feared" Analysis

This short work by Emily Dickinson addresses the idea of religion and a fear of God. The main theme of this poem is that without a fear of God, one can not truly have faith and belief in God. It is all about telling people the importance of being God fearing in their lives. The opening lines explain that the writer hoped to God and then had fear of Him, but this caused them to dare. This is a daring to test their faith. There is clear reference to the bible in the serpent trying to charm the writer. This could be referring to either the Garden of Eden or to Jesus being tempted in the desert, or more generally be a symbol for the Devil as a whole. The world choice is very interesting in this poem with many descriptive words. The word charm to describe the what the serpent is doing has a very strong impact on the meaning of the poem. Most often, charm is indicated to be a good thing, but when paired with a serpent it seems almost evil and diabolical. This creates an image of the snake and this is very strong as snakes are very scary for most people. Doom is also strong for the diction of this work. Doom is almost the ultimate way to describe something that is extremely evil in nature and bad all around. The final lie of "Who hath suffered him" goes back to the idea of Jesus in the desert and all of the tests that were given. These tests are what show the strength of our faith, and this is what Dickinson was most likely trying to point out with this poem. There is varied diction to give a powerful tone and imagery to this work, which Dickinson did in all of her works. She also presented an idea about the importance of religion and a fear of God to have a true belief in God.