Emily Dickinson had a view of God and His power that was very strange for a person of her time. Dickinson questioned God, His power, and the people in the society around her. She did not believe in going to church because she felt as though she couldn't find any answers there. She asked God questions through writing poems, and believed that she had to wait until she died to find out the answers. Dickinson was ahead of her time with beliefs like this. Many people in her generation just believed in God, went to church, and looked highly on the events discussed during church out of fear. These people were hesitant to ask questions, afraid of God, and scared of Dickinson because she started to inquire about things that only God was capable of answering.
In Dickinson's poem, 'I Shall Know Why-When Time Is Over', she is describing her feelings toward God.
English: Grave of Emily Dickinson in Amherst, Mass...
Photo of the Dickinson Homestead taken in October ...
English: Daguerreotype of the poet Emily Dickinson...It appears as though she is angry with Him because she cannot get any answers to her questions. Emily Dickinson feels, that the answers to these questions will only come with death.
' I shall know why-when time is over-
And I have ceased to wonder why-
Christ will explain each separate anguish
In the fair schoolroom of the sky- (78)'.
After she dies and God answers all of her questions, Dickinson then says:
' I shall forget the drop of anguish
That scalds me now-that scalds me now!'
This shows Dickinson's anger toward God. She does not want to have to die to have her questions answered. She wants to be able to live without these questions of what God wants, because they are deeply affecting her.
As time goes by, one could say that Dickinson is learning to live with the questions she has for...