all things are full of gods
This is a really interesting sentiment that I can't quite wrap my head around. But I do think that it is important that Schnackenberg is distinguishing between this particular statement and the idea that everything has the potential to be animated. This notion breathes life into literally everything in a very interesting way.
Punctuation is silence—laden, rhythmic silence
Silence is a really cool tool to use in poetry. To me it is often the most powerful when used like a movie would use completely black and silent frames right after a powerful scene: it allows you to take in what you just read.
But we can’t gainsay the emotional meaning—sometimes corroborative, sometimes opposing—of its rhythm-sounds.
I think that a lot of people don't really properly consider the importance of how poetry sounds;like Schnackenberg says,there is an emotional meaning behind the rhythm of poetry. It can change how you perceive a certain work.
they are often performances that reflect the lives of peoplewhose voices she "supposed
The poem is not about her, but maybe about a loved one who died.
tlrt'cont'cplion ol'thc event of death in the polite lan-llllirll('ol l vourrll lirclv lecirllirrg lhc scduction by a courteous gentle-trr;ur
This line is really interesting because I had not considered the fact that this poem was written in "the polite language of a young lady" -- this effects how I perceive the poem as the poem may not seem dark, though dealing with death, as the situation is being controlled in it's description by a narrator who is trying to be "polite".
and the experiences in the poems are often transforma-tions of episodes in the lives of personal friends
I think that this adds to the shroud of mystery surrounding Dickinson. Her experiences are intertwined with the experiences of her loved ones, and those experiences are perhaps indistinguishable.
Whatever the differences between these views, the poems areanalyzed as evidence and proof.
Perhaps these hypothetical situations were the reason for Dickinson not wanting her work published while she was alive; she was afraid of her secrets being found out.