How many times these low feet staggered

5. How many times these low feet staggered

How many times these low feet staggered, Only the soldered mouth can tell; Try! can you stir the awful rivet? Try! can you lift the hasps of steel?

Stroke the cool forehead, hot so often, Lift, if you can, the listless hair; Handle the adamantine fingers Never a thimble more shall wear.

Buzz the dull flies on the chamber window; Brave shines the sun through the freckled pane; Fearless the cobweb swings from the ceiling Indolent Housewife, in Daisies lain!

(Emily Dickinson, poem num. XI, p. 181)

a. Heuristic Reading

At a glance, this poem tells about the corpse of a housewife. The first line of how many

can be seen as a clue for the readers clearly refers to the corpse. In this poem, Dickinson not only describes the outlook but also the story behind the corpse. However, Dickinson did not clearly explain about the story of that corpse. She The line can be seen as a clue for the readers clearly refers to the corpse. In this poem, Dickinson not only describes the outlook but also the story behind the corpse. However, Dickinson did not clearly explain about the story of that corpse. She The line

is a form of paradox. In fact,

cannot tell anything. In other words, there is no story about the housewife to share to the readers.

In the first stanza, Dickinson delivers her intention through the uses of repetiti

. It is followed by the

which seems like giving a challenge for t contain ambiguity. First, it describes the hardship of the readers who wants to know about the story of the corpse. Second, those lines are the representation of the story behind the corpse.

In the second stanza, Dickinson clearly describes about the outlook of the

stroke the cool

e also

handle the adamantine fingers/

lift, if you can,

contains dramatic expression which attracts sentimental feeling of the readers.

buzz the du

can be seen as a cliché. Fly is one of arthropods which regularly appear in

inson creates imagery in

brave shines the sun through

fearless the actually have similar meaning which in intention. At the end of this poem, Dickinson uses euphemism and capitalization in fearless the actually have similar meaning which in intention. At the end of this poem, Dickinson uses euphemism and capitalization in

b. Hermeneutic Reading

how many these low feet stagg becomes the

interpretation. It seems like an early awareness for the readers about the tone of this poem. Therefore, the matrix is hardship. However, this poem tells about the death of

a housewife. As the result, the model is the hardship of a housewife which could be released by death. It can be seen as a critical expression. In this poem, Dickinson death.

how many

indicates the tone. From this line, the readers could feel the sense of hardship which relates to the corpse. This line guides the reader to imagine the hardship of a housewife during her lifetime.Moreover, the readers can conclude that the hardship relates to the role of a housewife who should handle a lot of housework.

Dicki . In symbolism, the mouth stands for the power of speech and relates to the creative power. According to René Guénon, the mouth represents integral consciousness (Cirlot, 2001, pp.221-222).In this part, Dickinson declares that there is no story about

uld be shared to the readers. In fact, the housewife who experiences the hardship is already died.

contains the sense of frustration for the readers who wants to know about the housewife. Dickinson creates imag

to describe the hardship of the readers. The hardship of the readers relates to the scene of frustration when the readers should ask question to a corpse. In the same time, those lines can be seen as

might not be able to behandled by others.

I stroke the cool forehead, hot

become the contrastive things. It can be seen as the representati is full of hardship. It describes the

. In contrast, the word

represents release which implies comfort and peacefulness. In this part, Dickinson describes that death can be seen as a savior who saves the housewife from her hardship.

Dic

lift, if you can,

. The word

dramatizes the hair symbolizes grief or mourning in classical literature. As a widespread belief, hair is an expression of life, youth, strength, or fertility (Ferber, 2007, pp. 91-92). Therefore, Dickinson creates the

to describe the death.

Moreover, Dickinson creates dramatic expression . According to Merriam Webster Dictionary

is a pitted cap or cover worn on the finger to push the needle in sewing

to remind the readers that sewing can be seen

fascicle manuscripts (Martin, 2002, p. 6). Fascicle means a small bundle. Therefore, the readers could imagine that Dickinson sews the sheet to make her fascicle manuscripts.

In buzz the dull flies on the can be seen as a cliché. Fly is an object which regularly appears in death poems. Rutledge (2003) states that fly, gnat, midge, worm (maggot) and malaria appear in 21 poems of 1775 poems written by Dickinson (p. 72). Fly can be seen as a symbol of death which relates to the decomposition process of organism.

Dickinson crea brave shines the sun through the freckled fearless the

to draws the condition of a

which contains the idea of creation and development. However, the center of cobweb symbolizes death, evil, destruction and other negative aspects of the universe (Cirlot, 2001, p. 21). Those lines indicate that no one is responsible to clean the houseafter which contains the idea of creation and development. However, the center of cobweb symbolizes death, evil, destruction and other negative aspects of the universe (Cirlot, 2001, p. 21). Those lines indicate that no one is responsible to clean the houseafter

As the ending, Dicki Indolent Housewife, in Daisies work The Legend of Good Women describes daisy as a good woman, but otherEnglish poets often mention daisy without a consistent symbolism (Ferber, 2007, p. 50). In brief, Dickinson characterizes the housewife as a good and innocent womanthrough

. Furthermore, it is a confirmation for the readers that the housewife is not lazy, but she is died. Dickinson tells to the readers that death could save the housewife from her hardship.

To sum up, Dickinson uses three kinds of conventional symbol such as mouth, hair and cobweb. However, fly and daisy areconsidered as personal symbol in

from her hardship and torture. Therefore, this poem can be seen as an irony. Moreover, she criticizes the custom which overburdens the housewife with a lot of housework. From this poem, Dickinson emphasizes that people should understand and appreciate the work of a housewife.