ED-LarryB

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.
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* 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.
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** 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.”
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*** 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”.

882.1864.The Truth—is stirless—

The Truth—is stirless—
Other force—may be presumed to move—
This—then—is best for confidence—
When oldest Cedars swerve—

And Oaks untwist their fists—
And Mountains—feeble—lean—
How excellent a Body, that
Stands without a Bone—

How vigorous a Force
That holds without a Prop—
Truth stays Herself—and every man
That trusts Her—boldly up—
………………………………………………………………

Truth stiffens the backbone: a wise aphorism for life.

881.1864.I meant to find Her when I Came –

I meant to find Her when I came –
Death – had the same design –
But the Success – was His – it seems –
And the Surrender – Mine –

I meant to tell Her how I longed
For just this single time –
But Death had told Her so the first –
And she had past, with Him –

To wander – now – is my Repose –
To rest – To rest would be
A privilege of Hurricane
To Memory – and Me –
……………………………………………………………….

My interpretation of F881, ‘I meant to find Her when I Came – ‘, with ED’s extensive mid-1870s revisions in {curly brackets}:

Stanza 1.

I meant to find Her when I Came –
Death – had the same design –
But the Success – was His – it seems –
And the Surrender {Discomfit}- Mine –

S1.

I meant to find Her when I came, but Death had the same design. The success was his, it seems, and the surrender mine.

Stanza 2.

I meant to tell Her how I longed
For just this single time –

(a) For just {this single} time –
(b) For just {this only} time –
(c) For {this specific} time –
(d) For {this peculiar} time –

But Death had {told} Her {enamored} so the first –
And she had past {hearkened ; trusted ; fled}, with Him –

S2.

I meant to tell Her how I longed to see her for just this single time, but Death had told her first, and she had fled with Him.

Stanza3.

To wander – now – is my Repose {Abode} –
To rest {pause}- To rest {dwell; stay} would be
A privilege of Hurricane {misery}
To Memory – and Me –

S3.

To wander now is my abode – to pause would be a privilege of misery, to memory and me.
………………………………………………………………

I wonder whether the speaker, ED, realized just how hurtful she would be to tell a dying person “I longed to see her for just this single time” and then to focus on her own “misery” for having missed her opportunity to say goodbye.

As someone once said, we must take ED for better or for worse.
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PS. The online photocopy of ED’s manuscript of this poem is faint, and she scribbled edits on it much more than she usually did. One source says the name “Eliz“ is on the manuscript, but, if it is, I can’t see it.

PPS. ED’s mother, Elizabeth Norcross Dickinson, died on November 14, 1882, so “Eliz.” probably doesn‘t refer to her.
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10/26/2026

I just read Cynthia Wolff’s paragraph (below). The poem’s death probably 20 years earlier when ED was 13 years old and her friend, Sophia Holland, died at age 15. The trauma sent ED into a month or more of deep depression that only waned when ED was sent to Boston to visit her aunt and sightsee.

So, Emily, please accept my sad apology. In future, I’ll try to learn more about the situation before passing judgement when empathy is needed.

”

880.1864.The Service without Hope—

The Service without Hope—
Is tenderest, I think—
Because ’tis unsustained
By stint—Rewarded Work—

Has impetus of Gain—
And impetus of Goal—
There is no Diligence like that
That knows not an Until—
………………………………………………………………..

My interpretation of ‘The Service without Hope’:

Stanza 1.

The Service without Hope—
Is tenderest, I think—
Because ’tis unsustained
By stint—Rewarded Work— [Stanzas 1 and 2 are enjambed]

S1.

I think service without hope of reward is tenderist because it can’t be done by stinting. Rewarded work, in contrast, . . . [Stanzas 1 and 2 are enjambed]

Stanza 2.

Has impetus of Gain—
And impetus of Goal—
There is no Diligence like that
That knows not an Until—

S2.

. . . has expectation of reward, expectation of reaching a goal. There is no diligence like that that expects no end.

879.1864. This that would greet – an hour ago –

This that would greet – an hour ago –
Is quaintest Distance – now –
Had it a Guest from Paradise –
Nor glow, would it, nor bow –

Had it a notice from the Noon
Nor beam, would it – nor Warm –
Match me the Silver Reticence –
Match me the Solid Calm –
……………………………………………………………………

My interpretation of ‘This that would greet – an hour ago –’:

Death tells us what death is like.

Stanza 1.

This that would greet – an hour ago –
Is quaintest Distance – now –
Had it a Guest from Paradise –
Nor glow, would it, nor bow –

S1.

This corpse, which would have greeted you an hour ago, is an unreachable distance from you now. Had it a guest from Paradise, it would not beam or bow.

Stanza 2.

Had it a notice from the Noon
Nor beam, would it – nor Warm –
Match me the Silver Reticence –
Match me the Solid Calm –

S2.

If this corpse had a beam from the Sun, it would not return the beam, nor would it warm you. Rather, it would match my silver silence, match my total calm.