This thesis is concerned with the establishment of an underlying philosophy for Robert Browning's many themes. It asserts that a notion found in II Corinthians 3:6, "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life," is basic to ideas such as Browning's belief in the superiority of life over art, of the wisdom of the heart over the intellect, and of honest skepticism over unexamined belief. The sources used to establish this premise are mainly the poems themselves, grouped in categories by subject matter of art, love, and religion. Some of his correspondence is also examined to ascertain how relevant the philosophy was to his own life. The conclusion is that the concept is, indeed, pervasive throughout Browning's poetry and extremely important to the man himself.

This paper will discuss to what extent Emily Dickinson's heritage, environment, and experience formed her attitudes on religion and love, and will explain how successful she was in translating her intense emotional experience of love into poetry by examining her use of religious imagery.

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本論文檢視艾蜜莉狄金生詩中的沉默不語與銷聲匿跡。第一章為現今狄金生研究的基本介紹與本論文章節編排。一個關於「我一早出發–帶著我的狗–」 (富蘭克林656) 的簡單問題燃起第二章的書寫與隨後的整本論文：在護送詩中人前往海邊之後，詩中人的狗去了哪裡? 為了獲得答案，我並列閱讀四首提到狗的詩，這四首詩分別是「我一早出發–帶著我的狗–」 (富蘭克林656)、「我的花園裡馳騁著一隻鳥兒」 (富蘭克林370)、「又一次–他的聲音在門邊–」 (富蘭克林274)、「我該如何是好–牠如此嗚咽著–」 (富蘭克林237)。檢視以上四首提到狗的詩，使我大有斬獲：首先，我發現這幾首詩的主題其實是人與人之間的關係，尤其是女性詩中人與男性的關係。再者，透過並置閱讀這四首詩，讀者能發現狗總是不在詩中人的特殊經驗之中，只在其外；這意味著狗代表詩中人的日常生活身份。第三章緣起於並置閱讀四首詩時，得到的第三個發現：詩中人與男人之間的互動通常都是靜默的，而他們的溝通方式常常只是一個眼神，而不是有聲的對話。於是第三章深入探索狄金生對沉默的依賴：「我–已–離家–多年–」 (富蘭克林440首版)、「不可能平凡–再次–我說–」 (富蘭克林388)以及「永遠在他身邊走」 (富蘭克林264)：第三章深談沉默在最刺激或痛苦的時刻中帶來的效果。第四章將沉默從人際關係拓展到天人關係： 「我聽到最遠的雷聲」 (富蘭克林1665首版)、「鳥兒從南邊報告-」 (富蘭克林780)、「在夏天比鳥兒還深遠」 (富蘭克林895首版與第四版)不只展示沉默的意義，也揭露自然對人類的不同態度。第五章則為本論文結語：我簡略整理本論文中所討論到的狄金生作品的共通點。 / This thesis delves into the silence and the unpresented in Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Chapter One is the basic background introduction to the existing Dickinson scholarship and the chapter organization of the whole thesis. A very simple question regarding “I started Early - Took my Dog - ” (Fr656) ignites the writing of Chapter Two and subsequently the whole thesis: where is the speaker’s dog after he escorts the speaker to the seashore? I piece together four poems mentioning dogs to secure an answer and my choices of poems are “I started Early - Took my Dog - ” (Fr656), “Within my garden rides a bird” (Fr370), “Again - his voice is at the door” (Fr274) and “What shall I do - it whimpers so - ” (Fr237). Examining the above four poems where dogs appear produces fruitful results: firstly it leads to the finding that the theme of these poems is in fact human relationship, especially that between the female speaker and the man. Furthermore, it enables readers an interpretation that the dog signifies the speaker’s ordinary subjectivity, since the dog keeps her company only when the speaker is outside of a special experience, rather than within. Chapter Three is initiated by the third interesting discovery made during the process of reading the poems with dogs: the interaction between the speaker and the man is usually silent and their method of communication is very often just a look, instead of verbal conversations. It is Dickinson’s reliance on silence that propels my investigation of “I - Years - had been - from Home - ” (Fr440 A), “It would never be Common - more - I said - ” (Fr388) and “Forever at His side to walk” (Fr264) in Chapter Three: at the most intensely exciting or nerve-wracking moment of life lies the power of silence and its effect is discussed in detail. Chapter Four expands the scale of silence from the human relationship to the man and nature connection: poems such as “The farthest Thunder that I heard” (Fr1665A), “The Birds reported from the South-” (Fr780) and “Further in Summer than the Birds -” (Fr895A, D) demonstrate not only the signification of silence but also different attitudes the nature holds towards human beings. Chapter Five is the conclusion of this thesis, in which I summarize the common ground among all Dickinson’s works discussed in this thesis.