Arcturus is his Other Name

-Emily Dickinson

      Emily Dickinson is a famous American poet. She is the greatest of all women poets. She lived an isolated and obscure life. She wrote her poems at quite God in an American town. She wrote nearly seventeen hundred poems which had published posthumously.

           
     She wrote about death, immortality, time and love. Nature placed a vital role in her poems.

             
        In this poem ‘Arcturus is his other name’. Emily Dickinson reveals her love for nature. At the same time, she expresses her dissatisfaction with science and scientists who are interfering with nature.

         Dickinson talks about the particular star with the scientific name ‘Arcturus’. She wishes scientist should not interfere with nature. They should not refer to stars by scientific Name.

                     ‘Arcturus is his other name

                      I’d rather call him ‘star’

          Dickinson recounts the past experience in her life. She killed a warm. A wise man who passed by called the Dickinson ‘warm’ but its scientific name ‘centipede’.

       Dickinson recalls another past experience she pulled out a flower in the woods. The botanist with her magnifying glass examines and classifies it to give a botanical name. In the past Dickinson used to admire butterflies in their natural habitats. She used to catch and classify them insight without the help of the scientists now. She can no longer enjoy the beauty of the butterflies flying in their natural environments. Instead she can see them dead as specimens in the scientific laboratory.

         Emily Dickinson has a hope that after her death she will go to heaven, the mysteries and unknown place. But now heaven is no longer unknown. It is ‘Mapped and Charted’. Still she confirms her faith in God. Though the north and south poles overturned out of confusion, she will not be touch by such confusion. She is hopeful that she will remain unaffected by the changes happening around her.

                     I hope I’m ready for ‘the worst’-

                     Whatever prank bêtises!

            She hopes that God will help her to enter the pearly gates of heaven by lifting her up. Though she is old fashion and untouched by science.

       Thus Emily Dickinson enjoys and appreciates nature. She feels that everything is beautiful naturally without the intervention of science. She likes things that are simple and old fashioned. Her strong feelings for nature make this poem unique and meaningful.