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The Only News I Know
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson (1890)
One of Dickinson’s most famous poems, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” describes a highly metaphorical encounter between the female speaker and Death, personified as a gentleman who invites the speaker into his carriage. The poem’s portrayal of Death as a familiar and not entirely terrifying figure is typical of Dickinson’s poetry, and the poem’s treatment of metaphysical concepts like death, immortality, and eternity resembles “The Only News I know.”
“The Soul selects her own Society” by Emily Dickinson (1890)
In “The Soul Selects Her Own Society,” Dickinson personifies the human soul in order to discuss the often arbitrary nature of personal feelings and biases. The poem likely represents Dickinson’s own reasons for social seclusion and reclusivity, but it may also symbolically examine the nature of an arbitrary and cruel God that privileges certain people at the expense of others.
“This is my letter to the World” by Emily Dickinson (1890)
As a social recluse, Dickinson had little to do with the outside world, and as “The Only News I know” illustrates, she rarely experienced life beyond her own home. In “This is my letter to the World,” Dickinson addresses her poem or “letter” to that outside world that “never wrote” (Line 2) to or knew her. She offers the “simple News” (Line 3) she has received from nature and requests that her “countrymen” (Line 7) accept and “judge tenderly” (Line 8) her writing. Alongside “The Only News I know,” “This is my letter to the World” highlights the social isolation Dickinson experienced, her philosophical preoccupation with her natural surroundings and own existence, as well as the poignant relationship between the poet and her unknown audience.
“I never saw a Moor” by Emily Dickinson
Although much of Dickinson’s poetry about eternity and death is characterized by some level of religious uncertainty and skepticism, “I never saw a Moor” represents her at times unshakable faith regarding the afterlife and the fate of her eternal soul. Although she has “never” (Line 5) spoken with God or “visited” (Line 6) Heaven, she is “certain” (Line 7) it exists, just as she is certain the sea exists despite never having seen it. “I never saw a Moor” emphasizes Dickinson’s faith, which, although never entirely constant in her life or poetry, encouraged her to embrace death as an inevitable and not altogether unpleasant step on the path to eternity.
“Pain—has an element of Blank” by Emily Dickinson (1924)
In this poem, Dickinson portrays pain and suffering as an experience with no clear beginning or end. For Dickinson, the presence of pain makes it impossible to “recollect” (Line 2) a “time when it was not” (Line 4) and creates a kind of “infinite” (Line 6) or perpetual state of suffering. In this poem, all-consuming pain causes existence to become stagnant and brings the passage of time to a halt, not unlike the state of the speaker described in “The Only News I know.”
Further Literary Resources
“Emily Dickinson’s Joke about Death” by Eleanore Lewis Lambert (2013)
In this article, Lambert explores the complexities of Emily Dickinson’s attitude towards death and demonstrates how her depictions of death often blend comedy and tragedy. Lambert examines Dickinson’s poetic topics “immortality,” “eternity,” and “resurrection”—present in much of her poetry, including “The Only News I Know”—and contextualizes these concepts within Dickinson’s portrayal of death.
“Emily Dickinson Was a Poetess” by Elsa Greene (1972)
Greene’s essay provides an overview of the difficulties faced in Emily Dickinson scholarship and examines Dickinson’s role as a “poetess” or female poet. Greene argues against literary critics whose readings divorce Dickinson’s poetry from the social limitations of her time and questions Dickinson’s usual place in the largely masculine, Protestant tradition of American poets. Greene’s essay examines the obstacles Dickinson confronted as a woman writing in 19th-century New England, as well as the inherent problems of gendered terms like “poetess.”
“The Riddles of Emily Dickinson” by Anthony Hecht (1978)
Hecht attempts to alter the typical critical perception of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, highlighting unusual aspects of her almost modernist poetics. His essay particularly explores how Dickinson’s poems, like riddles, conceal familiar concepts with abstract language and disorienting presentation, a prominent characteristic of Dickinson’s poem “The Only News I Know.”
“Emily Dickinson on Death” by Ruth Flanders McNaughton (1949)
In this essay, McNaughton considers Dickinson’s religious views and her treatment of concepts like death and eternity in her poetry. McNaughton argues that Dickinson was an agnostic for most of her life and that her fascination with death sprang from that religious uncertainty. McNaughton’s essay classifies Dickinson’s four different types of poetry about death, explaining her common phrases and at times paradoxical perspectives on the subject.
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By Emily Dickinson
