journal - 27

Many of Dickinson's poems can be sung to the tune of "Amazing Grace". Emily Dickinson grew up in a Christian family. Her family was very legalistic about Christian laws and held many Puritan beliefs. Throughout most of her writings, the reader can see the struggle between Dickinson's faith that had been ingrained into her thought patterns by her parents, and her questions of her faith. The song "Amazing Grace" has much to do with God and is about the grace of God and how he can completely change one's life. It is about how God can open your eyes and change your life in a beautiful way. I find it interesting that most of Emily Dickinson's poems can be sung to the tune of "Amazing Grace". I find it somewhat ironic actually. I find it ironic because Dickinson started straying from her Christian beliefs and started writing with the transcendentalist writing style. Therefore, it is very interesting that Dickinson's poems can be sung to the tune of a song that supports Christian values and is solely about the amazing grace of God. It shows that Dickinson still held true to her beliefs of Christianity even though she started to sway in her beliefs. She had an underlying belief in God throughout all of her writings. However, she had many doubts in her faith. Emily Dickinson started to question what she believed in and started to question the role that God played in her life. She started to rely more on outside nature as well as her own human nature rather than God or any orthodox. Considering Dickinson's durastic change of relying on God to doubting God, I find it very interesting that she bases the flow of most of her poems off of a song that has everything to do with God and is about trusting in God. Emily Dickinson seems to be a confused woman, however, she knew what she ultimately valued, and that was shown in that most of her writings flow to the tune of "Amazing Grace".