ED-LarryB

889.1864.Such is the Force of Happiness—

Such is the Force of Happiness—
The Least—can lift a Ton
Assisted by its stimulus—

Who Misery—sustain—
No Sinew can afford—
The Cargo of Themselves—
Too infinite for Consciousness’
Slow capabilities.
…………………………………………………………

My interpretation of F889.

I prefer both of ED’s alternates, “Strength” instead of “Force” (Line 1) because Stanza 2 describes weakness and “Benumbed abilities” in Line 8 because misery numbs the soul:

Such is the {Strength} of Happiness—
The Least—can lift a Ton
Assisted by its stimulus—

Who Misery—sustain—
No Sinew can afford—
The Cargo of Themselves—
Too infinite for Consciousness’
{Benumbed abilities} –

Happiness allows a meagre soul to accomplish miracles, but misery “benumbs” the soul so much that life seems too hard to continue.

888.1864.’Twould ease – a Butterfly –

‘Twould ease – a Butterfly –
Elate – a Bee –
Thou’rt neither –
Neither – thy capacity –

But, Blossom, were I,
I would rather be
Thy moment
Than a Bee’s Eternity –

Content of fading
Is enough for me –
Fade I unto Divinity –

And Dying – Lifetime –
Ample as the Eye –
Her least attention raise on me –
……………………………………………………………………….

An interpretation of F888, ‘’Twould ease – a Butterfly –’

Stanza 1

‘Twould ease – a Butterfly –
Elate – a Bee –
Thou’rt neither –
Neither – thy capacity –

S1.

A blossom would ease a butterfly, elate a bee, but you are neither, you can’t fly or feed on flowers.

Stanza 2.

But, Blossom, were I,
I would rather be
Thy moment
Than a Bee’s Eternity –

S2

But, if I were a blossom, I would rather be visited by you for only a moment, than by a bee for all eternity.

Stanza 3.

Content of fading
Is enough for me –
Fade I unto Divinity –

S3

If you did visit my blossom, that would be enough for me, even if I then faded into divinity.

Stanza 4

And Dying – Lifetime –
Ample as the Eye –
Her least attention raise on me –

S4.

And as I died, my lifetime would have been ample if your eye had given me the least attention.
……………………………………………………………………………………….

A blossom would ease a butterfly, elate a bee, but you are neither, you can’t fly or feed on flowers. But, if I were a blossom, I would rather be visited by you for only a moment, than by a bee for all eternity.

If you did visit my blossom, that would be enough for me, even if I then faded into divinity. And as I died, my lifetime would have been ample if your eye had given me the least attention.

887.1864.Severer Service of myself

Severer Service of myself
I—hastened to demand
To fill the awful Vacuum
Your life had left behind—

I worried Nature with my Wheels
When Hers had ceased to run—
When she had put away Her Work
My own had just begun.

I strove to weary Brain and Bone—
To harass to fatigue
The glittering Retinue of nerves—
Vitality to clog

To some dull comfort Those obtain
Who put a Head away
They knew the Hair to—
And forget the color of the Day—

Affliction would not be appeased—
The Darkness braced as firm
As all my stratagem had been
The Midnight to confirm—

No Drug for Consciousness—can be—
Alternative to die
Is Nature’s only Pharmacy
For Being’s Malady—
………………………………………………………………………

My interpretation F887, ‘ Severer Service of myself’, with ED’s alternate words in Lines 3, 16, 18 in curly brackets. I prefer her originals in each case:

Stanza 1.

Severer Service of myself
I—hastened to demand
To fill the awful Vacuum {Longitude}
Your life had left behind—

S1.

After you left, I hastened to demand severer effort of myself to fill the awful vacuum you had left behind.

Stanza 2.

I worried Nature with my Wheels
When Hers had ceased to run—
When she had put away Her Work
My own had just begun.

S2.

I twiddled with my time. Even when my body told me to sleep, I wrote poems into the night.

Stanza 3.

I strove to weary Brain and Bone—
To harass to fatigue
The glittering Retinue of nerves—
Vitality to clog

S3.

I tried to push my brain and body beyond fatigue, I tried to clog the vitality of my busy nerves.

Stanza 4.

To some dull comfort Those obtain
Who put a Head away
They knew the Hair to—
And forget the color {figure} of the Day—

S4.

My tired brain refused to think; I could see the color of the hair but missed the color of the day.

Stanza 5.

Affliction would not be appeased—
The Darkness {Trouble} braced as firm
As all my stratagem had been
The Midnight to confirm—

S5.

But no matter how I tried, the blackness braced as firm. All my stratagem had simply confirmed that life is midnight.

Stanza 6.

No Drug for Consciousness—can be—
Alternative to die
Is Nature’s only Pharmacy
For Being’s Malady—

S6.

No laudanum can be an alternative to death, death is nature’s only solution to the misery of life.
………………………………………………………..

Combined stanza interpretations:

After you left, I hastened to demand severer effort of myself to fill the awful vacuum you had left behind. I twiddled with my time, even when my body told me to sleep; I wrote poems into the night. I tried to push my brain and body beyond fatigue, I tried to clog the vitality of my busy nerves.

My tired brain refused to think; I could see the color of the hair but missed the color of the day. No matter how I tried, the blackness braced firm. All my stratagem had simply confirmed that life is midnight. No laudanum can be an alternative to death, death is nature’s only solution to the misery of life.

886.1864.Bereaved of all, I went abroad –

Bereaved of all, I went abroad –
No less bereaved was I
Opon a New Peninsula –
The Grave preceded me –

Obtained my Lodgings, ere myself
And when I sought my Bed –
The Grave it was reposed opon
The Pillow for my Head –

I waked, to find it first awake –
I rose – It followed me –
I tried to drop it in the Crowd –
To lose it in the Sea –

In Cups of artificial Drowse
To steep it’s shape away –
The Grave – was finished – but the Spade
Remained in Memory –
……………………………………………………………………………….

Interpretation of F886, ‘Bereaved of all, I went abroad -’

‘Grave’ personified:

Stanza 1.

Bereaved of all, I went abroad –
No less bereaved was I
Opon a New Peninsula –
The Grave preceded me – [. . . Stanzas 1 and 2 are enjambed]

S1.

Bereaved of all, I went abroad but was no less bereaved on a new peninsula because Grave preceded me. . .

Stanza 2.

Obtained my Lodgings, ere myself
And when I sought my Bed –
The Grave it was reposed opon
The Pillow for my Head –

S2>

. . . and obtained my lodgings before I arrived. And when I sought my bed, Grave was asleep on my pillow.

Stanza 3.

I waked, to find it first awake –
I rose – It followed me –
I tried to drop it in the Crowd –
To lose it in the Sea –

S3.

I waked, to find Grave first awaked; I rose, he followed me. I tried to escape Grave in the crowd, to lose him in the sea; . . . [Stanza 3 and 4 are enjambed]

Stanza 4

In Cups of artificial Drowse
To steep it’s shape away –
The Grave – was finished – but the Spade
Remained in Memory –

S4.

. . . I drank cups of laudanum to steep Grave’s shape away. That finished Grave, but Spade remained in memory.
………………………………………………………………………….

Combining my interpretation lines:

Bereaved of all, I went abroad but was no less bereaved on a new peninsula because Grave preceded me and obtained my lodgings before I arrived. And when I sought my bed, Grave was asleep on my pillow.

I waked, to find Grave first awaked; I rose, he followed me. I tried to escape Grave in the crowd, to lose him in the sea, I drank cups of laudanum to steep Grave’s shape away. That finished Grave, but Spade remained in memory.

885.1864. There is an arid Pleasure –

There is an arid Pleasure –
As different from Joy –
As Frost is different from Dew –
Like Element – are they –

Yet one – rejoices Flowers –
And one – the Flowers abhor –
The finest Honey – curdled –
Is worthless – to the Bee–
…………………………………………………………………………….

I’ll go out on a limb and postulate that F885 is a metaphor. Early in Charles Wadsworth’s career he tried his hand at poetry and concluded it was a waste of time, time that would be better spent writing sermons.

I suspect, with one piece of evidence *, that ED occasionally sent Wadsworth poems. I also suspect that he didn’t understand them and told her, tactfully, that he thought her time could be better used doing something else.

In that light, here’s my biographical interpretation of ‘There is an arid Pleasure –’,  with ED’s alternate Line 8 in {curly} brackets:

Stanza 1.

There is an arid Pleasure –
As different from Joy –
As Frost is different from Dew –
Like Element – are they –

S1.

There is a sadness, as different from joy as frost from dew, though both are water – . . .

Stanza 2.

Yet one – rejoices Flowers –
And one – the Flowers abhor –
The finest Honey – curdled –
{Repels the healthy Bee} –

S2.

Yet I rejoice in poems and you think they’re a waste of time; your curdled ** opinion of a fine poem repels a prolific author – me.
…………………………………………………………

* The evidence that she occasionally sent Wadsworth poems is that she apparently sent him Poem F1485, ‘Spurn the temerity’ in 1879. As in the previous eleven “Calvary” poems ***, the names were disguised: ED was “Gethsemane” and Wadsworth was “Calvary”:

Spurn the temerity –
Rashness of Calvary –
Gay were Gethsemane
Knew we of thee –

I think ED sent Poem F1485 to Wadsworth in 1879, and he took it as an invitation to visit. The following summer he arrived unannounced at her front door in 1880. No doubt, after the 20-year hiatus (1860-1880), the maturer twosome spent an afternoon strolling down memory lane.
……………………………………………………………………………

** EDLex defines “curdle” as “Thicken; congeal; clot; coagulate; ruin; turn from liquid to solid.” I think she meant “crystalize”.

“AI overview: Honey cannot be curdled because it contains no proteins or fats to coagulate.

“Crystallization: Over time, glucose separates from the water in a supersaturated sugar solution, turning the honey thick, grainy, cloudy, or solid. This is a completely natural process and does not mean the honey is spoiled.”
……………………………………………………..

*** Twelve “Calvary Poems”, with Calvary line in quotes:

1.   ‘Title divine — is mine!’    F194  1861  “Empress of Calvary”

2.   ‘I should have been too glad, I see’    F283  1862  “The Palm -without the Calvary -”

3.  ‘There came a Day at Summer’s full’   F325  1862  “Justified-through Calvaries of Love-“

4.   ‘I dreaded that first Robin, so’   F347  1862  “The Queen of Calvary-“

5.  ‘The Morning after Woe-‘   F398  1862 “Key of Calvary-”

6.  ‘If I may have it, when it’s dead’   F431  1862  “Queen of Calvary-“

7.  ‘I measure every Grief I meet’   F550  1863  “In passing Calvary-“

8.  ‘That I did always love’   F652  1863  “But Calvary”

9.  ‘One Crucifixion is recorded — only’   F670  1863  “One Calvary-exhibited to Stranger”

10.  ‘It makes no difference abroad’   F620  1863  “For passing Calvary-“

11.  ‘Where Thou art — that — is Home’   F749  1863  “Cashmere-or Calvary-the same”

12.  ‘Spurn the temerity-‘   F1485   1879  “Rashness of Calvary-“

884.1864.To wait an Hour – is long –

To wait an Hour – is long –
If Love be just beyond –
To wait Eternity – is short –
If Love reward the end –
…………………………………………………….

A biographic interpretation of ‘To wait an Hour – is long –’ (F884), with ED’s alternate ending in {curly brackets}:

To wait an Hour – is long –
If Love be just beyond –
To wait Eternity – is short –
If Love reward the end {Be at the end}–

I think ED is remembering Wadsworth’s promise to meet and marry her in Heaven. I don’t think ED still believes that promise, but at one time she did.

I prefer ED’s alternate Line 4,

“If Love be at the end –”,

because fulfilling a promise is not a “reward”; it’s an obligation.

883.1864.A South Wind — has a pathos

A South Wind — has a pathos
Of individual Voice —
As One detect on Landings
An Emigrant’s address.

A Hint of Ports and Peoples —
And much not understood —
The fairer — for the farness —
And for the foreignhood.
……………………………………………………….

An interpretation of ‘A South Wind — has a pathos’:

Stanza 1.

A South Wind — has a pathos
Of individual Voice —
As One detect on Landings
An Emigrant’s address.

S1.

A south wind gives a distinct feeling of foreignness, like immigrants on a landing who reveal their origin by their language or accent.

Stanza 2.

A Hint of Ports and Peoples —
And much not understood —
The fairer — for the farness —
And for the foreignhood.

S2.

A south wind hints of foreign ports and peoples who speak languages not understood, made more interesting because of their “foreignhood”.