The Wind - Tapped Like a Tired Man

Emily Dickinson’s a greatest American poet was known for her exemplary work. Among her seven published poem is the “The Wind tapped like a tired Man ” which display her prowess in poetry literature. The poem is comprised of five elaborate stanzas which have four lines with trimester and tetrameter that are irregular from a metrical viewpoint. Dickinson had a troubled childhood as she lost people who were close to her in that tender age, “ The Wind tapped like a tired Man ” is an expression of her inner feelings about the losses she experienced. The paper will expound on “ The Wind tapped like a tired Man ” by Emily Dickinson and give an in-depth meaning of the poem to the reader to have a general understanding of the poem

The voice behind the poem is for a woman in which the wind is tapped at her door, and she let it inside her house. The woman yearns for a love that it is not readily available. The setting of the poem is in a house probably an open room where the wind freely blows in the room, and the humming of birds is heard from the outside. From this, we can say it was probably in the breezy morning hour of the day. The poem is a reflection poem which elaborates about the grief of a loved one. In short, the poem shows us the importance of people when they are alive; we may fail to recognize how important people are when we are with them, once they are no longer with us is when we start realizing their value in our lives.

The mood set by this poem is melancholy as the poet describes her swift formless visitor, as impossible to withhold. The wind stopped by, but was continuously in motion; then it was tapped once more, without warning this time, and she was left alone. Emily Dickinson poems based on the reflection of pure natural occurrence, continuously giving a unique, extraordinary viewpoint on reality which saddens the speaker. In a nutshell, the language Dickinson used gives the wind a human face tantamount to “a tired man,” or a “timid man” tapping at the door of the speaker, possibly to point out its tenderness as well as its gusty persona. Yet again, she calls herself a “host,” as she “boldly” allows the ‘guest’ inside: By her action, we can deduce she has a kind heart; for letting the Man’ in her house. After receiving her guest in the end, it looks as if she grieves over its/his departure, given that she goes back to her accustomed feeling and lonesomeness situation.

The poem titled “The Wind tapped like a tired Man ,” shed light on the persona’s feeling about the subject of the poem. The persona’s sole companion is the wind which comes in briefly and after that leaves her in solitude. The wind in the poem which is the major actor has been personified giving it the attributes of man to be able to cause a huge effect on man. It describes the supernatural state of existence which is tied to the feeling of a lost loved one. The only way the poet could connect to the loved one is through memories which remain to haunt and torment the poet for not having the physical presence of the loved one. The lines 18-20 “ Then, like a timid man, Again he tapped--'t was flurriedly” the poet makes us understand the title as she compares the wind to timidity whose sudden silence deeply heartbroken the persona because they are no more. The poem is mixed with grief resulting from loneliness which makes the speaker live the harsh reality that the loved one is no more. The poem’s title also wittily illustrates a good use of imagery as well as an indirect expression of double meanings. Dickinson uses wordplay to develop the poem’s meaning. For example, in the poem, the reader instinctively recognizes the extraordinary way every line has been phrased. It gives the impression irregularity given that various sentences are passive rather than active, signifying that the subject is carrying out the act and instead the subject is executing the act. For instance, in line 6-8 the poet articulated, “To offer whom a Chair/Was as impossible as hand/ A Sofa to the Air.” It provokes a more mystifying and gloomier tone that support the poem’s theme. Likewise, the poet use of punctuation is quite complicated as the use of the poem’s wordplay. Regular use of capitalization plus the dashes can make the readers stranded and intimidated. The random use of punctuations and capitalizations we seem to which to be all over the place. For instance, in line 1-4 words capitalized in the first stanza, “Wind, Man, Host, Residence.” Even though on the surface it looks random, these four words in the stanza are related and are essentially the key poem phrase — both ‘Wind’ and ‘man’ situated in the poem’s heading are the only nouns in the title. ‘Host’ and ‘Residence’ are also nouns that contain a lot of meaning. These craftily buried hints paint the image of oddness and cynicism in the poem. 

In conclusion, the poet wants the reader to understand generally the importance of cherishing the love that we got because once it is gone, we will not be in the position to reclaim it back. We may not notice how important something is to us until it is gone. Thus the poem is a revelation that we should not take things for granted. Generally, throughout the poem, the poet utilizes the structure of the poem to create the meaning as with the frequent capitalization which shows she is stressing one aspect. 

Reference 

Dickinson., Emily. (n.d.) “ The Wind tapped like a tired Man. ”