ED-LarryB

856.1864.I play at Riches—to appease

I play at Riches—to appease
The Clamoring for Gold—
It kept me from a Thief, I think,
For often, overbold

With Want, and Opportunity—
I could have done a Sin
And been Myself that easy Thing
An independent Man—

But often as my lot displays
Too hungry to be borne
I deem Myself what I would be—
And novel Comforting

My Poverty and I derive—
We question if the Man—
Who own—Esteem the Opulence—
As We—Who never Can—

Should ever these exploring Hands
Chance Sovereign on a Mine—
Or in the long—uneven term
To win, become their turn—

How fitter they will be—for Want—
Enlightening so well—
I know not which, Desire, or Grant—
Be wholly beautiful—
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My biographical interpretation of F856, ‘I play at Riches—to appease’, with ED’s alternate word and phrases in {curly brackets} and ED Lexicon definitions in [straight brackets]:

Stanza 1.

I play at Riches—to appease
The Clamoring [intense, noisy desire] for Gold—
It kept me from a Thief, I think,
For often, overbold  [Stanzas 1 & 2 enjamb]

S1.

I write poetry – to appease my “Clamoring”, my [intense, noisy need] for love. Yet, poetry protected me from Wadsworth’s seduction and loss of my virginity. “For often, overbold” [enjambed with Line 5] ….

 

Stanza 2.

With Want, and Opportunity —
I could {might} have done a Sin
And been Myself that easy {distant} Thing
An independent Man— [EDLex Def. 11 of “Man”: a person, human being]

S2.

…. “with want, and opportunity, I {might} have sacrificed my poetry “and been that easy thing”, a [person] without a purpose.

 

Stanza 3.

But often as my lot displays
Too hungry to be borne
I deem Myself what I would be—
And novel {so much} Comforting

S3.

“But often” when my choice to be a poet seems too heavy “to be borne”, I remind myself of what I want to be, a world-class poet, and that renews my “Comfort” that I made the right choice.

 

Stanza 4.

My Poverty and I derive—
We question if the Man—
Who own—Esteem the Opulence—
As We—Who never Can—

S4.

My loneliness “and I derive” from my choice to dedicate myself to poetry. I “question” whether someone who “owns and esteems” great material wealth, as I “Who never can”, could ever esteem poetry as I do.

 

Stanza 5.

Should ever these exploring Hands
Chance Sovereign on a Mine—
Or in the long—uneven term
To win, become their {my} turn—

S5.

If my “exploring Hands” “Should ever” / Chance” to own “a Mine / Or in the long” unpredictable “term / to win” “their turn”, . . . [Line 16, Stanza 5, enjambs with Line 17, Stanza 6]

 

Stanza 6.

How {‘Tis} fitter they [my hands] will {I will} be—for {by} Want—
Enlightening so well—
I know not which, Desire, or Grant {Right; sight} —
Be wholly {chiefest • utmost} beautiful—

S6.

{‘Tis} fitter {I will} be, {by} Want / Enlightening so well”. How happier my hands will be as a result of sacrificing an ordinary life. I do not know which, desire for wealth and love of family life or achieving poetic immortality will be {chieftist} beautiful.
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A moment of truth?:

Stanza 1.

I play at Riches—to appease
The Clamoring for Gold—
It kept me from a Thief, I think,
For often, overbold [enjambed]

With Want, and Opportunity —
I could {might} have done a Sin

 

I think ED is lying about her sexual experience with Wadsworth in summer 1860 [this poem, Lines 3-6]:

“It [writing poetry] kept me from a Thief, I think,
For often, overbold [enjambed]

With Want, and Opportunity —
I could {might} have done a Sin”

Note the weasel phrase, “I think” and the wishy-washy “might have done” in Line 6. Either because she is subconsciously blocking it out or because she’s protecting her reputation from prying eyes, she fabricates a plea of Not Guilty.

My evidence rests on Lines 9-10 of F841, ‘Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning—‘, where she tells a contradictory and probably true recollection of the “Robbery”:

“Robbed—was I—intact to Bandit—
All my Mansion torn—”

ED says her hymen was “intact” before she was robbed, and afterward her hymen was “torn”.

Poem F841, ‘Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning’, is a description of what happened in the ‘Homestead” orchard at dusk on a summer night in 1860. Wadsworth and ED were taking a walk after supper, at her suggestion, and she intentionally did not take ‘Carlo’, her massive Newfoundlander, with them, even though, for protection, she had always taken him on her walks before that night.

I doubt that Carlo would have understood two humans copulating in the orchard and seriously interfered, as he weighed well over 120 pounds, while ED had told Higginson she was “big as a wren”. Carlo was probably bigger than ED by 20-40 pounds.

ED said in her first letter [JL261] to Higginson, April 25, 1862: “You ask of my Companions. Hills – sir – and the Sundown, and a Dog large as myself, that my Father bought me.”
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855.1864.Two were immortal twice

Two—were immortal twice—

Two—were immortal twice—
The privilege of few—
Eternity—obtained—in Time—
Reversed Divinity—

That our ignoble Eyes
The quality conceive
Of Paradise superlative—
Through their Comparative.

MANUSCRIPTS:

Two, variant, about early 1864. A fair copy was sent to Susan Dickinson, now in Morgan Library.

Variant A

Two – were immortal- twice –
The privilege of few –
Eternity – obtained – in Time –
Reversed – Divinity –
That our ignoble Eyes
The Quality perceive
Of Paradise Superlative –
Thro’ their – comparative.

A copy is in Fascicle 38. ED suggested an alternate Line 3 and alternate word in Line 6,  {in curly brackets}.

Variant B

Two – were immortal twice –
The privilege of few –
Eternity – obtained – in Time – {Eternity – in Time obtained -}
Reversed Divinity –

That our ignoble Eyes
The quality conceive {perceive}
Of Paradise superlative –
Through their Comparative.

I much prefer ED’s alternative for Line 3 because her original line is misleading: “in time” for what?

In Line 6, I much prefer ED’s alternative because “conceive” suggests the reader must create a meaning, while “perceive” implies that the meaning was always there, and the reader must merely “see” it.

Manuscript details are cut and pasted from Franklin (1998).

Franklin.1998.The Poems of ED, Variorum Edition, three volumes, Harvard Press.
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ED (1864) shared a moment when “Two – were immortal twice -”. Wordsworth (1807) shared a solo moment of “Eternity – in Time obtained” in his ‘Intimations of Immortality’:

“The thought of our past years in me doth breed
Perpetual benediction: not indeed
For that which is most worthy to be blest;
Delight and liberty, the simple creed
Of Childhood, whether busy or at rest,
With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast:—
Not for these I raise
The song of thanks and praise
But for those obstinate questionings
Of sense and outward things,
Fallings from us, vanishings;
Blank misgivings of a Creature
Moving about in worlds not realised,
High instincts before which our mortal Nature
Did tremble like a guilty thing surprised:
But for those first affections,
Those shadowy recollections,
Which, be they what they may
Are yet the fountain-light of all our day,
Are yet a master-light of all our seeing;”

Both Dickinson and Wordsworth are describing mystical experiences that “Are yet a masterlight of all our seeing”.
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Definition of “ignoble” from  EDLex

1. Humble; lowly; less able to see; [fig.] human; mortal; earthly.
2. Base; unworthy; insignificant; slight; trivial; hollow; less in status.

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My biographical interpretation of  ‘Two—were immortal twice—’, with my preferred alternates:

Stanza 1.

Two – were immortal twice –
The privilege of few –
{Eternity – in Time obtained -}
Reversed Divinity –

S1.

Wadsworth and I were “immortal twice”, first when we made love in our orchard that fateful evening in summer 1860. Only a “few”people have the” privilege” of sensing “eternity” during their “time” on Earth. When that happens it’s “Divinity Reversed” because we see what heaven is like before we die.

 

Stanza 2.

That our ignoble Eyes
The quality {perceive}
Of Paradise superlative –
Through their Comparative.

S2.

It’s amazing that we two mortals, with ordinary human eyes, are able to perceive “paradise superlative” here and now and, in our imaginations, to “compare” our present experience with what heaven might be. Our mystical experience will shine a “master-light of all our seeing” for the rest of our lives.

854.1864.Despair’s advantage is achieved

Despair’s advantage is achieved
By suffering – Despair –
To be assisted of Reverse
One must Reverse have bore –

Now, that’s a happy stanza!  “bore” sounds like a hole I drilled this morning. Methinks ED meant “borne”.

The Worthiness of Suffering like
The Worthiness of Death
Is ascertained by tasting –
As can no other Mouth

Gosh, another stanza even happier than the first. Sounds like ED’s life was a bowl of cherries.

Of Savors – make me conscious –
As did ourselves partake –
Affliction feels impalpable
Until Ourselves are struck –

In fact, this poem feels like ED was struck by a bolt of pure giddiness.

Oh! Woe is me, and who is the unnamed god[?] she’s begging to “make me conscious” of “Savors”?  Geeez.

OK, I’ll try to play along with a biographical interpretation:

Stanza 1.

Despair’s advantage is achieved
By suffering – Despair –
To be assisted of Reverse
One must Reverse have bore –

S1.

To know pain I have to feel pain, to know despair I have to feel despair. I desperately loved Wadsworth through four years of correspondence, but when I finally met him, he took advantage of my naivete and left me crying. That was a rude “Reverse”, but now I know how it feels to live through a “Reverse” that hurt so bad I wanted to die, many times.

 

Stanza 2.

The Worthiness of Suffering like
The Worthiness of Death
Is ascertained by tasting –
As can no other Mouth

S2

I’ve tasted suffering, I’ve tasted death, and only if I’ve tasted these can I empathize with a fellow sufferer.

 

Stanza 3.

Of Savors – make me conscious –
As did ourselves partake –
Affliction feels impalpable
Until Ourselves are struck –

S3.

Dear God,

Like Jesus, please let me “savor” the pain of nails pounded through my hands and then hang me by them on a cross. Only when I’ve felt his pain can I know what he felt, share his pain.

 

Ok, now can we move on to the next poem?
…………………………………………………………………………………….

ED suggested four alternate words:

Line 4A.

One must Reverse have {have previous} bore –

L4A.

I prefer ED’s original because three-syllable previous breaks the flow with its weakness.

Line 4B.

One must Reverse {previous} have bore

L4B.

I also prefer ED’s original because “Reverse” sounds strong and “previous” sounds weak.

 

Line 5.

The Worthiness of Suffering {Excellence; quality} like

L5.

I like ED’s original because “Suffering” bites better than “Excellence” or “quality”.

 

Line 7.

Is ascertained by tasting {testing} –

L7.

I prefer the original again because “tasting” is personal, one of the five senses, while “testing” sounds mechanical, like a statistical statement.

853.1864.She staked Her Feathers – Gained an Arc –

She staked Her Feathers – Gained an Arc –
Debated – Rose again –
This time – beyond the estimate
Of Envy, or of Men –

And now, among Circumference –
Her steady Boat be seen –
At home – among the Billows – As
The Bough where she was born –
………………………………………………………………………………….

My biographical interpretation of ‘She staked Her Feathers – Gained an Arc -’, F853:

Stanza 1

She staked Her Feathers – Gained an Arc –
Debated – Rose again –
This time – beyond the estimate
Of Envy, or of Men –

S1.

Before 1860, ED thought she had dedicated her life to composing great poems, but her four-year correspondence with “Master” and his fateful visit that summer almost sidetracked her life’s “Arc”. She fought hard to escape her worship of older men, her father obsession, then she spread her wings and rose again, this time beyond the “estimate of Envy, or of “Men”.

 

Stanza 2.

And now, among Circumference –
Her steady Boat be seen –
At home – among the Billows – As
The Bough where she was born –

S2.

And now she soars the outer boundaries of poetry, her boat steady while she composes poem forms no one has ever seen before, breaking all the rules, “At home – among the Billows”, confident she has recovered “The Bough where she was born –” to be.
………………………………………………………………………………….

I think this poem, ‘She staked Her Feathers – Gained an Arc’ is ED’s description of the “arc” of her life from [1] before Wadsworth’s visit, [2] during and for two or three years after his “visit” to Amherst, and [3] the remainder of her life.

I think ‘Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning—’, F841, marks the watershed moment when ED decided to swear off any distraction from her initial life purpose, composing great poetry.

I think poems F843, F844, F845, F847, F848, F850, and F851 form a septet of rededication to using her remaining days to compose world-class poems. Whether that happens, we can judge from her remaining poems, F851-F1789. It will be hard for her to improve on the impropriety of her past poems.

For those reasons, I think F841 is the most important poem ED composed during the first 34 years of her life.
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ED suggested four alternate words in pencil on her manuscript of F853:

Line 1.

Feathers {Wings}
Arc {Bush}

L1.

I much prefer ED’s original words because “Wings” and “Bush” seem intended to hide the gist of the poem. Perhaps, ED felt she needed camouflage in case someone solved her riddle about the “Arc” of her life, that is, she composed a public and a private version of this poem.

Line 3.

estimate {inference}

L3.

I like both ED’s words because “estimate” implies she doesn’t care what other’s think about her life and poetry, and “inference” suggests she doesn’t care whether someone understands the “Arc” of her life. She’s going to keep doing what she’s been doing.

Line 7.

home {ease}

L7.

I prefer ED’s alternate word, “ease” because it implies she not only feels comfortable with the “Billows” of her life, but it also implies she is not just at “Home” with the tough times of life, but that she’s also at “ease” because she knows what “Billows” are.
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ED’s Stanza 2 rates paradigm status for how an experienced poet, or any person experienced in their line of work, feels, compared to a tyro:

And now, among Circumference –
Her steady Boat be seen –
At home – among the Billows – As
The Bough where she was born –

Speaking as a former guide of 60 canoe trips over 58 years in Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario, paddling a canyonesque seven-mile lake against a stiff in-your-face breeze and high waves, read “Billows”, scared the shit out of any novice in my crew, but many years of fighting such gales gave me “confidence, read “At home – among the Billows”, that turning 45 degrees out of the wind and paddling like hell until your endurance breaks, pulling into a cove to rest, then re-emerging into the gale, and repeating as many times as it takes to reach the portage trail at the far end of the lake was just another safe day in paradise.

So it is with life.

852.1864.It was a Grave, yet bore no Stone

It was a Grave, yet bore no Stone
Enclosed ’twas not of Rail
A Consciousness it’s Acre, and
It held a Human Soul –

Entombed by whom, for what offense
If Home or Foreign born –
Had I the curiosity
’Twere not appeased of men

Till Resurrection, I must guess
Denied the small desire
A Rose upon it’s Ridge to sow
Or take away a Briar –
………………………………………………………………………….

I think this poem is ED’s religious inquiry into what captor is preventing her from learning whether there is an afterlife. If she can’t know the answer while she’s alive, she can at least believe that Jesus was resurrected. as the Scripture says.
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My interpretation of ‘It was a Grave, yet bore no Stone’:

Stanza 1

IIt was a Grave, yet bore no Stone
Enclosed ’twas not of Rail
A Consciousness it’s Acre, and
It held a Human Soul –

S1

I was in Limbo, without a gravestone. I was trapped, but not by any iron railing. I was conscious, and I had a soul.

 

Stanza 2

Entombed by whom, for what offense
If Home or Foreign born –
Had I the curiosity
’Twere not appeased of men

S2

Who was holding me captive? For what offense? Was my jailer born here or in a foreign country? I had the curiosity, but my curiosity was not appeased by anyone.

Stanza 3

Till Resurrection, I must guess
Denied the small desire
A Rose upon it’s Ridge to sow
Or take away a Briar –

S3

Until Resurrection, I can only guess who my captor was. Until then, I’m denied even my small desire to sow a rose on Jesus’s brow or take away his crown of thorns.
………………………………………………………………………………

There are three variants of F852: Variant A is only the first line because ED sent Variant A to her cousin, who copied the first line into a list of poems, then ED’s manuscript vanished.

The variant used in The Prowling Bee’ is Variant C, “about 1865”. There is one difference between Variants B and C:

Line 8: ’Twere not appeased of “Man” {Men}.

I prefer “Man” over “Men” because ED’s referring to collective “Man”, not plural “Men”.

ED suggested an alternate phrase for Line 12, the last line of Variant C:

“Or take away a Briar” {“palliate a Briar–” }

I prefer her original phrase, “take away”, because she wants to remove the Crown of Thorns that Romans put on Jesus’s head and “sow a rose” instead.
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851.1864.“I want” – it pleaded – All it’s life –

“I want”—it pleaded—All its life—
I want—was chief it said
When Skill entreated it—the last—
And when so newly dead—

I could not deem it late—to hear
That single—steadfast sigh—
The lips had placed as with a “Please”
Toward Eternity—
……………………………………………………………………………..

ED had no alternative words or phrases.
……………………………………………………………………………….

Anthony Madrid on The Prowling Bee [TPB] nailed this poem, F851, so I paraphrased his interpretation [downloaded 7/13/2026; brackets are mine, LarryB]:

Stanza 1.

“I want”—it pleaded—All its life—
I want—was chief it said
When Skill entreated it—the last—
And when so newly dead—

S1.

“I want”, [I] pleaded all [my] life. I want was chiefly what [I] said, when [I] begged for skill, on [my] last day, and even when [I] was newly dead.

 

[Stanza 2]

I could not deem it late—to hear
That single—steadfast sigh—
The lips had placed as with a “Please”
Toward Eternity—

S2

I could not deem that plea too late when I heard that single-minded [final] sigh that [my] lips had emitted, like the word “Please” aimed at eternity . . . .
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ED loves to trick readers with riddles, such as Line 3, “When Skill entreated it —”. ED requires her readers to know her tricks well enough that they understand Line 3 is inverted and really means “When my soul begged for skill”. [EDLex Def. 1d of “entreated” is “begged”].

ED played the same prank on naive readers in Line 1 of the preceding poem, ‘Defrauded I a butterfly’.
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ED intended “I” and “it” to be nominative case, i.e., the subject and its referent pronoun in Line 1, and “Skill” is accusative case, or direct object.

“I” is ED’s soul and “it” is the possessive pronoun for “I”. “I” begs the “Skill” (accusative case, direct object) to write great poetry. [Hope I got that right.]
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850.1864.Defrauded I a Butterfly –

Defrauded I a Butterfly –
The lawful Heir – for Thee –
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ED offered no alternative words or phrases. However, I think she pulls a favorite prank by inverting the real meaning of Line 1: “A butterfly defrauded I / The lawful heir – for Thee”. It also helps to know that ED capitalized pronouns, such as “Thee” in Line 2, only for God and Wadsworth.
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Interpretation

You defrauded me, Wadsworth, / Just like this butterfly that looks like a moth defrauded me. In 1860, you visited me in the trappings of a minister and then seduced me like the wolf you really are.
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Background

ED is still fuming about Wadsworth walking with her at dusk in the Dickinson apple orchard (at her suggestion), and then plying her with honeyed words of love until, after dark in a remote corner of the orchard, she gave in. After their walk, he took his departure, and as they said goodbye, in ED’s words, they looked deep into each other’s eyes:

F841

Stanza 6

“Best—at Setting—as is Nature’s—
Neither witnessed Rise
Till the infinite Aurora
In the other’s eyes.”

 My interpretation of Stanza 6:

 Just as a sunset is most inspiring as the Sun sinks behind the horizon, the best part of our summer day was as he was leaving. Neither spoke, but we peered deep into each other’s eyes and saw an infinite sunrise.
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The Amherst train station was one block east of “Homestead” on Main Street, which made Wadsworth’s escape easy. No doubt, he hopped on the night train to Northampton, MA, 12 miles SW of Amherst, where he was visiting his old seminary roommate, James Clark, and I suspect the next morning he caught the Philadelphia train for the 250-mile trip south to home. Judging from the many poems ED wrote after her summer 1860 seduction in which she wonders if Wadsworth is alive or dead, I suspect he never again responded to her letters. By many, I mean 931 poems, 52% of her lifetime productivity, were composed during 1861-1865.Here’s one example:

 

F349, ‘He touched me, so I live to know’, “about summer 1862” (Franklin 1998)

He touched me, so I live to know
That such a day, permitted so,
I groped upon his breast –

It was a boundless place to me
And silenced, as the awful Sea
Puts minor streams to rest.

And now, I’m different from before,
As if I breathed superior air—
Or brushed a Royal Gown—
My feet, too, that had wandered so—
My Gypsy face—transfigured now—
To tenderer Renown—

Into this Port, if I might come,
Rebecca, to Jerusalem,
Would not so ravished turn—
Nor Persian, baffled at her shrine
Lift such a Crucifixial sign
To her imperial Sun.
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Well, almost “never”:

That 1860 evening at Homestead was not the last time ED saw Wadsworth. He visited her again during summer 1880 after receiving her four-line invitation (F1485, late 1878):

“Spurn the temerity —
Rashness of Calvary —
Gay were Gethsemane
Knew we of Thee —”

This time he did not RSVP but simply showed up at her front door after giving an invited sermon at James Clark’s church in Northampton, MA. This visit took courage, both for ED when she invited him and for Wadsworth when he knocked on her door without sending an RSVP:

It took courage on his part to visit after 20 years, but the tone of ED’s invitation suggested she had forgiven him.

“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. “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.”

Letter JL1040 to Charles Clark, April 15, 1886, one month before ED died. Wadsworth died on April 1, 1882.

PS: “Calvary” was ED’s codeword for Wadsworth and “Gethsemane” was her codename for herself.