One Word

The word "Breath" in Dickinson's poem 258 adds a very unusual element to her usual dark and death centered poems. In the poem, she uses the word "breath" to personify dark shadows as she describes them holding their breath. She brings life-like quality to an inanimate object. This word is rich in that it is surrounded by darker and lifeless words seen throughout the poem such as oppress, weight, hurt, despair, affliction, and death. It stands out and makes the darker words more intense by insinuating that this oppressive despair is so great that it has a life of its own.