A Route of Evanescence
A Route of Evanescence,
With a revolving Wheel –
A Resonance of Emerald
A Rush of Cochineal –And every Blossom on the Bush
Adjusts it’s tumbled Head –
The Mail from Tunis – probably,
An easy Morning’s Ride –
Summary of A Route of Evanescence
- Popularity of “A Route of Evanescence”: Written way back before its publication, the poem “A Route of Evanescence” by Emily Dickinson, a reclusive American poetic soul, demonstrates her thoughts about a hummingbird and its fast movements. The poem first appeared in 1891 in the Collection of Dickinson’s Poems published by Higginson and Todd. Despite its riddling nature, the poem has set the mood of the readers in understanding life and its nature.
- “A Route of Evanescence” As a Representative of Life and Spirituality: The poem presents the flight path of a hummingbird without implying its name. It states that its whirling movements resonate as if an emerald is making sounds and it moves fast with its crimson-red color. When this beautiful bird passes, even the blooms turn their heads to see how it looks. It seems that it has arrived from the exotic land of Tunisia and is perhaps moving to someplace early in the morning. This beautiful flight path of the bird, and its morning ride point to the poetic spirituality of natural movements.
- Major Themes in “A Route of Evanescence”: Poetic journey, the flight path of the hummingbird, and natural life are three major themes of this short poem “A Route of Evanescence.” Although the poet intends to demonstrate the flight path of a hummingbird, it is actually the symbolic flight of her imagination or her poetic journey that seems to her an exotic flight to something new and fresh. This shows how natural life moves from one place to another place and how nature welcomes it. The poet has highlighted the spirituality of her poetic journey through the natural symbols of hummingbird, bus, and morning.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in A Route of Evanescence
Emily Dickinson has used various literary devices to enhance the intended impacts of his poem. Some of the major literary devices have been analyzed below.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /o/ in “A Rush of Cochineal” and again /o/ in “The Mail from Tunis – probably.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /w/ in “With a revolving Wheel” and the sound of /s/ in “Adjusts it’s tumbled Head.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Emily Dickinson used imagery in this poem such as “With a revolving Wheel”, “A Resonance of Emerald” and “The Mail from Tunis – probably.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet implies Evanescence as a metaphor for the hummingbird.
- Personification: It means to attribute human qualities and emotions to something inanimate, such as ‘Blossom that turns their heads to see the flight of the hummingbird’.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as an emerald, blossoms, bush, and head, showing nature and its objects moving with mankind as symbols of life.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in A Route of Evanescence
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: Diction means the type of language, and tone means the voice of the text. Here the diction is highly concise, precise, and symbolic, but the tone is mesmerizingly spiritual.
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows an ABCB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues even in the second stanza.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are two stanzas in this poem, with each comprising four verses.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about nature and the presence of nature.
And every Blossom on the Bush
Adjusts it’s tumbled Head –
The Mail from Tunis – probably,
An easy Morning’s Ride –
