Emily Dickinson's poem, "If I can stop one heart from
breaking," provides a clear insight into the kinds of things that the author genuinely
cared about. Though she traveled very little from home, Emily Dickinson had a remarkably
perceptive view of the world—a world which inspired her beautiful
poetry.
If I were looking for a thesis statement regarding
this poem, I would study first to the main points of Dickinson's
verse.
Her focus is on three
things:
If I
can stop one heart from breaking...If
I can ease one life the aching...Or
help one fainting robin / Unto his nest
again...
In these three
lines, we see that Dickinson concerns herself with a wide variety of interests: she
looks to nature, she refers also to one's breaking heart, and finally, she concentrates
on the quality of a person's life.
Because Dickinson does
not list these things from most important to least important, we might assume that to
the author, all three are equally important in her eyes. She also tells the reader that
her own satisfaction comes from helping others: that another's wellbeing is enough to
not only make her feel happy, but to provide her with a sense of
personal value in life. The concept that seems of primary significance is that helping
others, if she can, will be the most important legacy she could leave behind when she
dies.
When we stop to consider these things, this
seven-line poem says much more than we might notice at first
glance.
With all this said, my own thesis would have to
reflect the sense that Emily Dickinson placed a higher value upon the wellbeing of
others, rather than her own personal satisfaction, which shows her to be generous and
selfless in her desire to see the world a better place.
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