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Explore how Emily Dickinson present ideas and feelings about the afterlife in ‘Going to
Heaven’ and make connections with one or two other poems from your collection
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Dickinson takes on a naïve voice to explore
contradictions and weaknesses of the afterlife
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The lines ‘I
don’t know when – Pray do not ask me how’ conveys the lack of certainty as the speaker
seems to be saying that they do not want their faith to be challenged because their faith
is perhaps too fragile
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The higher frequency lexis creates an ambiguous tone as it
may be the voice of someone who has just been told they are going to heaven and they
are talking to theirself, or it could be someone talking to a friend after they have
attended a church service and they’re convinced that they are one of the elect
...
The
exclamative ‘How dim it sounds!’ connotes dullness and a sense of bleakness
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It also links to the line ‘And then the windows failed’ (I
heard a fly buzz) which displays a lack of faith, therefore preventing the speaker from
having a stable connection with God and the heaven
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The
simile ‘As sure as flocks go home at night’ gives the image of protection and being
guided to the light
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The line after this, ‘Unto the Shepherd’s arm!’ is an allusion to
Psalm 23, (‘The Lord is my Shepherd’) which emphasizes the image of being led and
guided into heaven
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The nasal sounds used in these two lines contribute to the image of heaven
being reassuring and soothing and also evokes feelings of belonging
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The concrete noun ‘place’ gives the image of heaven in simple physical

terms, however it is more than that, which shows that the speaker does not have full
knowledge of the afterlife; they are only aware of the stereotypical representation of
heaven
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This conveys the
beautiful quality of heaven which allows people to reunite with loved ones
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The use of the concrete nouns ‘Robe’ ‘Crown’ in both lines adds to the
physical aspect of heaven and presents the image of a ceremonial dress for a glorious
occasion of accepting God’s grace
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The first
lines of the 3rd stanza ‘I’m glad don’t believe it, For it would stop my breath-’ displays
the playful irony in the idea that believing in heaven would knock her dead
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Dickinson would rather spend time appreciating the
worldly life, ‘And I’d like to look a little more, At such a curious Earth’ which displays her
lack of faith and that she’s opposed to the Calvinist idea of Earth being only a temporary
resting place, rather she believes this world is similar to heaven
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Dickinson uses aspects of worldly life to emphasize
her fragile faith as she would rather focus on these, than having a connection with God
and reaching the afterlife

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