本論文探討艾蜜莉・荻瑾蓀在其詩歌中對「事物性」(thing)一詞的創新運用,將其作為一種多面向的詩意手法,連結物質與非物質、生命與死亡、抽象與具體。通過聚焦四首以「事物」為核心的詩歌:《「希望」是長著羽毛的事物》(M150)、《有些飛翔的事物》(M52)、《論她與割裂之事物》(M177)以及《有幾種永不再回來的事物》(M634),本文論證荻瑾蓀如何通過「事物」一詞將僵化的類別轉化為動態、無界的形態,揭其存在與哲學共鳴。借助馬丁·海德格的「事物理論」(Thing Theory)、比爾·布朗對「物體」與「事物」的區分,以及雅克·德希達對詩意語言不穩定意義的研究,本論文構建了一個理論框架以分析荻瑾蓀的詩歌策略。通過細讀文本,本論文探討荻瑾蓀在《「希望」是長著羽毛的事物》(M150)和《有些一飛翔的事物》(M52)中如何描繪具有生命力的事物,例如希望或鳥兒般轉瞬即逝的存在,使其具有生命力,模糊了有形與無形之間的界限。在《論她與割裂之事物》(M177)和《有幾種永不再回來的事物》(M634)中,荻瑾蓀反思無生命物質,將其轉化為記憶與失落的場域。通過將「事物」(thing) 重塑為連結與模糊性的媒介,荻瑾蓀透過詩作重新思考其詩意想像中存在與缺席、物質性與精神性的相互作用。

This thesis investigates Emily Dickinson’s innovative use of the term “thing” in her poetry as a multifaceted poetic device that bridges the material and immaterial, the living and the deceased, and the abstract and concrete. By focusing four thing-poem: “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers –” (M150), “Some things that fly there be –” (M52), “Of nearness to her sundered Things” (M177), and “The Things that never can come back, are several –” (M634), I argue that Dickinson employs “thing” to transform rigid categories into dynamic, unbounded forms, revealing their emotional, existential, and philosophical resonance. Drawing on Martin Heidegger’s thing theory, which posits things as gatherings of relational meaning; Bill Brown’s distinction between objects and things, and Jacques Derrida’s approach to poetic language, which highlights the instability of meaning, this thesis constructs a robust theoretical framework to analyze Dickinson’s poetic strategy. Through close readings, the thesis explores how Dickinson describes the animate things in “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers –” (M150) and “Some things that fly there be –” (M52), where hope and fleeting entities like thoughts or birds gain agency and vitality, blurring the lines between tangible and intangible. In “Of nearness to her sundered Things” (M177) and “The Things that never can come back, are several –” (M634), Dickinson ponders material objects, transforming them into sites of memory and loss. By reframing “things” as conduits of connection and ambiguity, Dickinson’s poetry invites readers to reconsider the interplay between presence and absence, materiality and spirituality, in her poetic imagination.

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