783.1863.Never for Society
ED’s three alternate words in parentheses
Never for Society
He shall seek in vain—
Who His own acquaintance
Cultivate—Of Men
Wiser Men (One, Ear) may weary—
But the Man within
Never knew Satiety—
Better (Braver) entertain
Than could Border Ballad—
Or Biscayan Hymn—
Neither introduction
Need You—unto Him—
Your explication sentence, Adam, says better and in fewer words my comment on the previous poem, ‘Renunciation—is a piercing Virtue—’. As always, ED said it best, but camouflaged:
“Renunciation—is the Choosing
Against itself—
Itself to justify
Unto itself—”
An interpretation:
Renunciation—is the Choosing
Against myself—
Myself to justify
Unto myself—
In few words, she renounced romance and committed herself to poetry. In her newly coined word of 1882, she left ““Little Girl”hood” behind and became an adult. She had shed her pathological infatuation for Charles Wadsworth, but, to her credit, she cherished him as a friend until she died:
ED’s Letter L994, August 22, 1882, to James D. Clark, Wadsworth’s best friend, four months after Wadsworth’s death and four years before hers.
“………….. He was my Shepherd from “Little Girl”hood and I cannot conjecture a world without him, so noble was he always – so fathomless – so gentle. ……………”
ED’s Letter L1298, April 15, 1886, to Charles H. Clark, James Clark’s brother, four weeks before she died:
“…………….. “With the exception of my Sister who never saw Mr Wadsworth, your Name alone remains. ‘Going Home,’ was he not an Aborigine of the Sky? The last time he came in Life, I was with my Lilies and Heliotropes, said my Sister to me, “the Gentleman with the deep voice wants to see you, Emily,” hearing him ask of the Servant. “Where did you come from,” I said, for he spoke like an Apparition. [Wadsworth appeared unannounced at ED’s front door in summer 1880]
““I stepped from my Pulpit from to the Train” was [his] simple reply, and when I asked “how long”, “Twenty Years” said he with inscrutable roguery – but the loved Voice has ceased, and to some one who heard him “Going Home,” it was sweet to speak. ………….”. [Wadsworth visited ED 20 years earlier, in summer 1860]
Miller, C, and D. Mitchell, 2024, The Letters of Emily Dickinson’ (p. 687). Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.