Belonging has its own rewards but it also has its costs. Although it may be an intrinsic urge of person to seek to belong, to connect with others, it should not be at the expense of one’s sense of self, shaped by their personal, social and cultural paradigms. One must learn to understand and appreciate their inner self if they are to find true belonging during their life. ‘I died for beauty, but was scarce’ and ‘I had been hungry all the years’ are excellent examples of the rewards and consequences of belonging. Each text highlights that a pseudo sense of belonging, which is offered by succumbing to societal expectations, can ironically lead to a sense of not belonging.
One’s sense of belonging varies, depending on circumstances, values and beliefs but since death is a common human condition, where personal identities seemingly become insignificant, all may truly belong. Dickinson’s use of a subdued tone within her poem, ‘I died for beauty, but was scarce’, accentuates society’s grim perception towards the concept of death. The two personas that were united through a common failure of their respective ‘Romantic’ ideals, “I died for beauty … when one who died for truth was lain In an adjoining room,” illustrates that despite how important your ideals may have been during life, death responds to all in an equal manner. The victims of this poem never belonged with the living, and are only connected through death. The poem is riddled with ideas of death and its ultimate and enduring power. “Until the moss had reached our lips And covered up our names”, suggests that any connection or sense of belonging they achieve is only temporary and that ultimately the only permanent belonging is to nature from which we all stem and which ultimately reclaims us in our deaths. It’s significant that it is the natural moss, which covers the lips and names of the characters. We all belong to nature, which claims us equally, regardless of the nobility of our death. ‘I died for...