ED-LarryB

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—

EED had no alternative words or phrases, and it helps to know that the “I” in this poem is EED’s soul, which wants the skill to write good poetry. Anthony Madrid on The Prowling Bee blog nailed this poem, ‘I want” – it pleaded – All it’s life –’ (F851), so I print his interpretation here [explanatory brackets mine, LSB]:

“If I’m right about this one, you have to understand “Skill” (line 3) as accusative case, not nominative. In other words, it’s not skill that’s doing the entreating. It’s the “it” from the first line that’s doing the entreating. “It”—is begging for skill.

“Here, I’ll venture a translation/paraphrase:

 

[Stanza 1]

“I want, it pleaded all its life. I want was chiefly what it said, when it begged for skill, on its last day, and even when it was newly dead.

 

[Stanza 2]

“I could not deem that plea too late, when I heard that singleminded sigh that the lips had emitted, like the word “Please” aimed at eternity . . . .

………………………………………………..

 If I’m right, the piece shows Emily Elizabeth [EED] respecting and justifying the eternal sense of inadequacy a poet feels. She’s saying a poet’s soul (that’s the “it”) does right to perpetually entreat for skill—to the very end of life and beyond.

“Sentiments like that prompted me [Madrid], years ago, to compare Dickinson to her great Urdu contemporary, Ghalib [1797-1869, Indian poet]. His poetry, too, is full of appreciating and respecting agony, begging, dissatisfaction….

 

. . . -Anthony Madrid”

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PS: EED loves to trick readers with riddles, such as Line 3, “When Skill entreated it —”. EED wants her readers to know her tricks well enough that they understand Line 3, “When Skill entreated it—” is inverted and really means “When it entreated Skill”.
“

Madrid’s sentence flipped on a light for me, but maybe not as you expect:

“If I’m right, the piece shows Emily Elizabeth respecting and justifying the eternal sense of inadequacy a poet feels.”

If Elizabeth Barrett Browning deserves her short moniker, EBB, why should I be calling Emily Elizabeth Dickinson “ED”? Henceforth ED becomes “EED” in my comments because we don’t call Robert Frost “Robert”, and “Emily Dickinson” takes too long to type, so EED she shall be.

I hope other commentors will follow suit and honor her with more formality, less familiarity, as if she’s our bosom buddy, or even girlfriend. EED deserves it.

PS: I know, I’m in love with her too and have named my trusty red trike “Emily”, but still . . . .

PPS: One further reason to moniker Emily Elizabeth Dickinson “EED” is because George Henry Gould, a close friend and confidant she met while they were both young adults in Amherst, gave her and Lavinia the famous “Ebon Box” (F180, 1860) as he left Amherst for a teaching job elsewhere. On the top of the box he painted their names:

“EMILY E. AND LAVINIA N. DICKINSON”

Presumably, EED’s good friend, George, knew the sisters well enough to know they would like that.

850.1864.Defrauded I a Butterfly –

Defrauded I a Butterfly –
The lawful Heir – for Thee –

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:

“Most—I love the Cause that slew Me.
Often as I die
Its beloved Recognition
Holds a Sun on Me—

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

I interpret these last two stanzas of ‘Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning—’ [Stanzas 5-6, Fr841] as:

5. And the strangest thing is that I still love Wadsworth, even though he seduced me. I die of shame each day that passes, but at the same time his recognition of me is the Sun of my life.

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.

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:

“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

849.1864.By my Window have I for Scenery

Variant A’ of ‘F849’, as published by Franklin (1998). The “A” is Franklin’s customary name for the first known variant of a poem. Variant A is the only known manuscript of this poem, which I call ‘Version 1′:

By my Window have I for Scenery
`Just a Sea — with a Stem —                                                                If the Bird and the Farmer — deem it a “Pine” —
The Opinion will serve — for them —

It has no Port, nor a “Line” — but the Jays                       L5
That split their route to the Sky —
Or a Squirrel, whose giddy Peninsula
May be easier reached — this way —

For Inlands — the Earth is the under side —
And the upper side — is the Sun —                                L10
And its Commerce — if Commerce it have —
Of Spice — I infer from the Odors borne —

Of its Voice — to affirm — when the Wind is within —
Can the Dumb — define the Divine?
The Definition of Melody — is —                                   L15
That Definition is none —

It — suggests to our Faith —
They — suggest to our Sight —
When the latter — is put away
I shall meet with Conviction I somewhere met       L20
That Immortality —

Was the Pine at my Window a “Fellow
Of the Royal” Infinity?
Apprehensions — are God’s introductions —
To be hallowed — accordingly —                           L25

……………………………………………………………………………………….

In her manuscript of F849A, ED suggested five alternate words/phrases for five of her original words. In Version 2 of this poem, I’ve put these alternates in {curly brackets} beside the originals.

Also in Version 2, I use [regular brackets] around my guesses of the antecedents of vague pronouns and around my explanatory note.

Below each of ED’s stanzas is my prose interpretation of that stanza:

‘By my Window have I for Scenery’, F849A, Version 2:

Stanza 1

By my Window have I for Scenery
Just a Sea — with a Stem —
If {Grant} the Bird and the Farmer — deem it a “Pine” —.
The Opinion will serve {do}— for them —

S1 interpretation

Outside my second-floor bedroom window at Homestead stands an eastern white pine whose limbs sway in the wind like the billowing waves of a “Sea”. If a bird or a farmer wants to call it a pine, that’s fine for them, but not for me.

Stanza 2

It [the sea with a stem] has no Port, nor a “Line” [to tie to a dock] — but the Jays —
That split their route to the Sky {Ply between it, and the Sky} —
Or a Squirrel, whose giddy Peninsula [branch in another tree]
May be easier reached {better attained, easier gained} — this way —

S2 interpretation

My Sea Pine has no port, nor a Line to tie a ship to a dock, but Jays must fly around it on their route to the Sky, and a Squirrel, on its way to its nest on a limb of another tree, uses one of Sea Pine’s swaying Peninsulas [branches] as a shortcut home.

Stanza 3

For Inlands — the Earth is the under side —
And the upper side — is the Sun —
And its Commerce — if Commerce it have —
Of Spice — I infer from the Odors borne —

S3 interpretation

In my side yard my Sea Pine roots in the Earth, and above it shines the Sun. It sheds a haunting fragrance that wafts on the wind. The fragrance, distilled, is perfume of Commerce, if Commerce there be, of merchantmen filled with an aromatic load.

Stanza 4

Of its Voice — to affirm — when the Wind is within —
Can the Dumb — define {divulge} the Divine?
The Definition of Melody — is —
That Definition is none —

S4 interpretation

When Wind blows through Sea Pine’s branches, it affirms the mystic music, the melody of the spheres. Can the Dumb define Divine? Sea Pine’s Definition of Melody is – that Definition is none.

Stanza 5

It [Sea Pine’s voice]— suggests to our Faith —
They [sign language of the “Dumb”] — suggest to our Sight* —
When the latter [Sight] — is put away
I shall meet with Conviction [that] I somewhere met
That Immortality [before] —

S5 interpretation

Sea Pine suggests to my Faith, the Dumbs’ sign language suggests to my Sight*, that when I and my hearing die, I believe with Conviction I will again hear the Music of the Spheres, which is Immortality. [Several times in my younger days I heard the Music, often while watching a sunset out my west window. I haven’t the skill to describe how powerful it sounded, but it convinced me that life is worth living, which saved my life during the months after Wadsworth moved to the west coast.]

Stanza 6

Was the Pine at my Window a “Fellow
Of the Royal” Infinity?
Apprehensions — are God’s introductions —
To be hallowed — accordingly —

S6 interpretation

Is Sea Pine at my Window an angel, a “Fellow of the Royal” Infinity? Uncertainties [EDLex Definition 2 of “Apprehensions” are God’s introductions and to be hallowed accordingly.
………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Here are my preferences of published and alternate words/phrases and my reasons, listed by line number:

3. Original word “If” because “Grant” doesn’t make sense to me
4. Alternate word “do” because it’s stronger than “serve”
5. Original phrase “That split their route to the Sky” because it focuses on the Sea Pine, while “Ply between it, and the Sky” does not,
6. Original phrase “easier reached” because it’s direct, while “better attained” or “easier gained” are not,
7. Original word “define” because it’s stronger and rhymes with “Divine”.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Dickinson vs. Keats,
Melody and Beauty:

F849A, Lines 15-16, early 1864, to ED’s  ‘Ebon Box’

“The Definition of Beauty is
That Definition is none—”

In F849, when ED writes “Melody” she means mystic melodies “of no tone”, referring to Keats’ ‘Ode’:

“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone”

 

F797A, Lines 1-2, early 1864, to Sue

“The Definition of Melody — is —
That Definition is none —”

In F797, when ED writes “Beauty”, she’s referring to Keats’ ‘Ode on a ‘Grecian Urn’:

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

…………………………………………………………………………………….

*American Sign Language (ASL) originated in 1817 when educator Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Deaf French instructor Laurent Clerc founded the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut.

847.1864. Her final Summer was it—

ED enjambs Line 4-5, and offers an alternate Line 2 and two alternate words for Lines 5 and 7, in {curly brackets}. I prefer all three alternates over her originals and have used them below:

Her final Summer was it—
{Yet we suspected not}
If tenderer industriousness
Pervaded Her, {We thought

A further} {Fund} of life
Developed from within—
When Death lit all the {brevity}
It made the hurry plain—

We wondered at our blindness
When nothing was to see
But Her Carrara Guide post—
At Our Stupidity—

When duller than our dullness
The Busy Darling lay
So busy was she—finishing—
So leisurely—were We—

My interpretation of F847, ‘Her final Summer was it’:

1. During summer, she knew she was dying but didn’t tell us. She seemed more industrious than usual putting her affairs in order. We thought

2. she had found a fund of life deep inside her, so we were surprised when she visibly began to die. That explained why she had been hurrying.

3. We wondered at our blindness, but she showed us nothing that would make us suspect her death was near. Her face was calm as marble. We can’t believe we were so blind to the truth.

4. Even when she began to fade we could not believe the end was near. We took our time when she asked for help and now regret our leisureness. On her deathbed she finished her final legal documents and gave instructions for her funeral.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

ED choreographed her own funeral carefully:

“The honorary pallbearers, among them the president and professors of Amherst College, set the casket down after exiting the Homestead’s back door, and their burden was shouldered, at the poet’s own request, by six Irish workmen who had been hired men on the Dickinson grounds.

“Following her late directions, they circled her flower garden, walked through the great barn that stood behind the house, and took a grassy path across house lots and fields of buttercups to West Cemetery [500 yards from Homestead], followed by the friends who had attended the simple service. There Emily Dickinson was interred in a grave Sue had lined with evergreen boughs, within the family plot enclosed by an iron fence.”

( https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/emily-dickinson/biography/special-topics/emily-dickinson-and-death/ )

846.1864.A Drop fell on the Apple Tree—

 A Drop fell on the Apple Tree—
Another—on the Roof—
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves—
And made the Gables laugh—

A few went out to help the Brook
That went to help the Sea—
Myself Conjectured were they Pearls—
What Necklaces could be—

The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads—
The Birds jocoser sung—
The Sunshine threw his Hat away—
The Bushes— spangles flung—

The Breezes brought dejected Lutes—
And bathed them in the Glee—
The Orient showed a single Flag,
And signed the fête away— …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

This unusually understandable poem doesn’t need an interpretation, but for enlightening comments on it see Adam W. DeGraff’s explication on The Prowling Bee,

https://bloggingdickinson.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-drop-fell-on-apple-tree.html
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Line 9: “The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads—”:

Road builders had to add fill to raise roads in wet areas, especially in 1858 when most roads were dirt. During dry spells raised dirt roads are drier and therefore dustier than unraised roads. During wet spells, frequently used dirt roads become quagmires.

Now we take macadam or asphalt roads for granted.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Lines 13-14:

The Breezes brought dejected Lutes—
And bathed them in the Glee—

During a hot dry spell in a southern summer, a breeze feels like a hot hair dryer. Speaking from experience of a childhood in Arkansas, a summer downpour after weeks of drought feels like a gift from God and the air smells heavenly, which we attributed to lightning-created ozone. Now I know ozone is odorless, so go figur.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Lines 15-16

The Orient showed a single Flag,
And signed the fête away—

For me, “Orient” and sunrise trump sundown. When “The Sunshine threw his Hat away—” in L11, “he” raised his hat to remove its shadow and day began.

Speaking from years of rising at 4 AM to deliver newspapers or, in ED’s case, to fix breakfast for her early rising father, that schedule creates habits that continue through life.

ED wanted to spend her morning hours writing poetry and, with a poem (F35, 1858), asked her father to hire house help:

Sleep is supposed to be
By souls of sanity
The shutting of the eye.

Sleep is the station grand
Down wh’, on either hand
The hosts of witness stand!

Morn is supposed to be
By people of degree
The breaking of the Day.

Morning has not occurred!

That shall Aurora be—
East of Eternity— One with the banner gay—
One in the red array—
That is the break of Day!

ED thanked her father for granting her wish (over strong objections from his wife) by dedicating this poem to him:

“To my Father — to whose untiring efforts in my behalf, I am indebted for my morning hours. — viz — 3.AM to 12. PM. These grateful lines are inscribed by his aff. Daughter.” (JL198, 1858)

The hours of this summer party were 3AM to 6 AM, which ED would be used to now that she has time to experience dawn outdoors. At that time, birds are “jocuser”.
……………………………………………………………………………………..

 

845.1864.We can but follow to the Sun—

We can but follow to the Sun—
As oft as He go down
He leave Ourselves a Sphere behind—
‘Tis mostly—following—

We go no further with the Dust
Than to the Earthen Door—
And then the Panels are reversed—
And we behold—no more.

My prose interpretation of ‘We can but follow to the Sun —’ (F845, 1864):

1. All our lives we only follow the Sun. As often as He sets, we sleep, Earth turns, Sun rises, and we wake.

2. “Dust to dust” circumscribes our lives, and then our curtain falls. Earth swallows us, night reigns, and we behold no more.
………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Excerpt from an ED letter to Higginson (JL503, June 1877):

“When a few years old – I was taken to a Funeral which I now know was of peculiar distress, and the Clergyman asked “Is the Arm of the Lord shortened that it cannot save?

He italicized the ‘cannot.’ I mistook the accent for a doubt of Immortality and not daring to ask, it besets me still.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………..

In 1882, ED revisited F845’s gist with ‘Those – dying then’ (F1581):

Those – dying then,
Knew where they went –
They went to God’s Right Hand –
That Hand is amputated now
And God cannot be found –

The abdication of Belief
Makes the Behavior small –
Better an ignis fatuus
Than no illume at all –
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ignis fatuus (noun)

Merriam-Webster Definition:

1. a light that sometimes appears in the night over marshy ground and is often attributable to the combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter
2. a deceptive goal or hope

   “Ignis fatuus” is a Latin term meaning, literally, “foolish fire.”

   Other names for this light are “jack-o’-lantern” and “will-o’-the-wisp” — both of which are connected to folklore about mysterious men, Jack and Will, who carry a lantern or a wisp of light at night.

   Etymology:

   Medieval Latin, literally, foolish fire
   First known use was in 1563, in Sense 1 (above).

   Synonyms: pipe dream, mirage, chimera, delusion, daydream, illusion

(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ignis%20fatuus)