Journal #41

Emily Dickinson's poem titled "Surgeon's Must be Very Careful" is very short in length, but it carries much meaning with it. Initially it appears that Dickinson is just literally addressing surgeons and their line of work, and she is suggesting the risk of what they do every day. Obviously, they must be very careful with what they are doing because, as Dickinson describes it, "Underneath their fine incisions stirs the culprit - Life!" (Dickinson). The meaningful, and somewhat mysterious, part of this poem comes with Dickinson's specific word choice. Emily Dickinson was famous for choosing only the "best" words for her poetry, or more reasonably, exactly what she was attempting to convey through her words. She needed to select just the right words so the reader may know just what feelings or ideals she was trying to illustrate. A great example of this comes with her use of the word "culprit." Traditionally, this word "culprit" is used in an almost demeaning manner usually with criminals. Of course, it is nowhere near a term of endearment. The reader can infer with her word choice here that there is a large underlying meaning. This meaning is one with much ambiguity. Although the surgeon is the one operating on this patient, and he is obviously trying to cure or save them, it is the patient who brought this upon himself. Surgery usually takes place when someone severely injures themselves, and this is even more true in the days of Emily Dickinson. The patient must have somehow greatly injured themselves to the point where it was beyond normal medical procedure. Also in this poem, Dickinson exhibits her ideals on the value of life itself. She is commonly known for writing about death and death related topics, but in this section, perfectly titled "Part One: Life," she changes this angle. She now writes on the importance of life when she mentions that this surgeon must be extra careful with his knife due to the fact that he may accidentally take this poor soul's life away from him (Dickinson).

Works Cited

Dickinson, Emily. "Sugeons Must Be Very Careful." Part One: Life. Bartleby.com. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. .