There Is No Frigate Like a Book
Emily Dickinson foregrounds the simple pleasure of reading an enjoyable book by four striking metaphors: 1. A book is compared to a “frigate” – a light sailing vessel capable of travelling at high speeds. 2. light verse is compared to a “courser” – a very swift horse. 3. The escapist pleasure which an enjoyable read provides is compared to a toll free highway which even the poorest of the poor can afford. 4. The human body is compared to the “chariot” which bears the human soul which enables an individual to enjoy the inexpensive – “frugal” – pleasure of reading which enlightens and liberates the human mind.
Explanation: emily instigates the avid poetry-lovers through this poem to take on poetry for the pleasure of reading which carries you to distant places imagined by the personna. it is a piece of provocation for the poem lovers who love to read. i think it is the best method to read a poet’s mind. follow the piece of imagery one has used to understand the poem.
this method works if someone wishes to lay in trance and go in some other 3rd world. Coming back to the poem,a book is the best and most viable solution or alternative to flit or cruise rather than a ship. t is somewhat close to sleep-walking. emily further goes on to say that nomore war-horses are there which could carry someone to far-away places.
The pages of a book are inexpensive and they can carry one to distant places with their dancing text in comparison to those expensive horses. she gives a clear indication of her feelings towards the oppressed class. furher on she gives an opportunity to the poors who can easily through the lines of book traverse here and there without being charged a single penny. finally she ends saying that the book serves as he most economical and viable chariot which carries the human mind and soul to distant places. emily has clearly conveyed us and especially for not-so avid book lover’s and poor persons to read books which impart us with such great knowledge. she tries to get the poors to understand that that the words are stars of education which one must learn to get his dreams fulfilled. the poor people should try to read books which could carry them to places they cannot afford to go. there is a message for the sect of people who wish to escape from reality for some kind of relief from their hectic life and this is it-books.
Symbol Analysis This whole poem is kind of a growing pile of transportation-related metaphorical language. The central idea is a simple one: books carry us places – so do boats, horses, roads, and chariots. Ta-da! You’ve basically figured out this whole poem. However, this simple explanation doesn’t do justice to how charming, lighthearted, and fun this poem is. By piling on the transportation images, the speaker gets us to think about different types of journeys we can go on, just as there are all kinds of different books we can read, and different imaginary trips we can take. Line 1-2: The poem begins with a simile comparing a book to a frigate, otherwise known as a ship. * Line 3: We immediately get another transportation-related simile, this time comparing the written page to a “courser,” or a horse. * Line 4: Here the speaker follows up on line 3’s comparison of the page of poetry to a horse with a touch of personification, when she refers to “prancing Poetry. “
We know that poetry can’t really prance, though animals and people can. This is also a sly play on words. “Prancing” also makes us think of the metrical “feet” that make up a poetic line (see the section on “Form and Meter” for more on this). Line 5-8: Next, we get an extended metaphor that starts with the idea of a toll road. The “Traverse,” or journey, that the reader takes doesn’t cost anything, and thus is “Without oppress of Toll” (line 6). For this reason, the “chariot” that carries us on these imaginary voyages is “frugal,” or cheap. Theme * Most importantly, “There is no Frigate like a Book” is a celebration of the power of reading. Reading is great! Reading is fun! Reading is the best way to escape your dull, humdrum life, and go out and “see” the world! In act, the poem even slyly suggests that reading might bebetter than actual travel – after all, it immediately announces that “There is no Frigate like a Book” (line 1), suggesting that a book even tops a real ship.
This poem ecstatically shows us just how amazing books are, and reminds us that we shouldn’t take reading for granted, even though it’s just a simple, everyday activity. After all, whether you’re just seeking a little escapist vacay, or longing to transport your soul to a distant, mystical realm, books are the only way to get there. The poem emphasizes the significance of a book. Books are like wondrous cravings of the heart and soul where in you are free to bring it with you anywhere around the globe. Books aren’t simple compilations of pages but it is rather a bouquet of flowers in hand! ok? You see, books can give varieties of imaginations wherein you are free to dig beyond what more truly life lies ahead. It’s like leaning yourself in a field of grasses while staring in the sky full of lurid imaginations.
Speaker Point of View Who is the speaker, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him? If you’ve read any other Dickinson poems, you may be familiar with the mysterious nature of the speaker. We don’t get any hints about who or what is telling us about books “There is no Frigate like a Book. ” There are no clues as to the speaker’s gender, age, or characteristics (not even an “I” – so we can’t even say exactly say that it’s a person). The only thing that makes the speaker seem human at all is the pronoun “us” in line 2, which implies that he/she/it is a reader, just like we are.
It’s perhaps best to think about the speaker here as a kind of disembodied voice, making observations about the natural, human joys of reading. There is no Frigate like a Book Setting Where It All Goes Down The setting here is a kind of fantastical imaginary landscape. It’s a pretty spectacular one, populated by magnificent ships sailing away to far-off lands and knights trotting around on prancing horses. However, this poem doesn’t actually represent a place, imaginary or no. Instead, it asks us to imagine imagination itself (whoa). That sounds totally confusing and way far out there, but think about it for a minute.
The central metaphor of this poem asks us to compare reading a book to traveling to far-away places. The travel that goes on here is imaginary, and the speaker is asking us to summon up the idea of travel in our minds, not a specific voyage. Meaning of its title: The title simply means that through boo there is no other escape from reality as can be found in a book. It can take you anywhere. Within that book, there is even more endless possibilities. The poorest of all can find enjoyment from literature without any sort of pressure. This form of escape speaks to one’s soul like nothing else can.
