ED-LarryB

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.

878.1864. Least Bee that Brew –

ED gave Variant A of ‘Least Bee that Brew -‘ to Sue and stitched Variant B into Fascicle 39.

Variant A

Least Bee that Brew –
A Honey’s Worth
The Summer multiply –
Content Her smallest fraction help
The Amber Quantity –

Variant B

Least Bee that brew – a Honey’s Weight
The Summer multiply –
Content Her smallest fraction help
The Amber Quantity –
………………………………………………………………………

My biographical interpretation of ‘Least Bee that Brew -‘:

ED metaphorizes herself as the “Least Bee”, who “brews” poem after poem for us, her readers. She’s “Content Her smallest fraction help / The Amber Quantity -”, which, in turn, helps her endure “The Loneliness One dare not sound”, F877.

877.1864.The Loneliness One dare not sound—

The Loneliness One dare not sound—
And would as soon surmise
As in its Grave go plumbing
To ascertain the size—

The Loneliness whose worst alarm
Is lest itself should see—
And perish from before itself
For just a scrutiny—

The Horror not to be surveyed—
But skirted in the Dark—
With Consciousness suspended—
And Being under Lock—

I fear me this—is Loneliness—
The Maker of the soul
Its Caverns and its Corridors
Illuminate—or seal—
………………………………………………………………..

My interpretation of ‘The Loneliness One dare not sound’, including
ED’s alternate words in {curly brackets}:

Stanza 1.

The Loneliness One dare not sound—
And would as soon surmise
As in its Grave go plumbing {measuring}
To ascertain {register} the size—

S1

The belief that we are alone in the universe is something we would rather forget, not go measuring to ascertain the depth of this assertion.

 

Stanza 2

The Loneliness whose worst alarm
Is lest itself should see—
And perish from before itself
For just a {simple} scrutiny—

S2.

Acknowledging that we are alone in the universe is scary, and we would rather die than scrutinize that line of thought.

Stanza 3.

The Horror {Chasm} not to be surveyed—
But skirted in the Dark—
With Consciousness suspended—
And Being under Lock—

S3.

The horror of this loneliness is better unsurveyed, unskirted in the dark, with consideration suspended, under lock and key.

 

Stanza 4.

I fear me this—is Loneliness—
The Maker of the soul
Its Caverns and its Corridors
Illuminate {Make populate{manifest}} — or seal—

S4,

What I’m afraid of admitting is that we are the makers of our own souls, with all their dark caverns and corridors, which we can illuminate or seal.
………………………………………………………………………………………

To me, this poem describes existentialism, well before Sartre (1905-1980).

876.1864.To be alive—is Power—

Variant A signed “Emily” and sent to Sue.

To be alive, is power –
Existence – in itself –
Without a further function –
Omnipotence – Enough –
To be alive – and Will –
‘Tis able as a God –
The Further of Ourselves, be what –
Such being Finitude?

Variant B to Fascicle 39

To be alive—is Power—
Existence—in itself—
Without a further function—
Omnipotence—Enough—

To be alive—and Will!
‘Tis able as a God—
The Maker—of Ourselves—be what—
Such being Finitude!
…………………………………………..

My interpretation of Variant B of F876, ‘To be alive—is Power—’:

Stanza 1

To be alive—is Power—
Existence—in itself—
Without a further function—
Omnipotence—Enough—

S1

To be alive is power. Existence in itself, with no further function, is omnipotence enough.

Stanza 2.

To be alive—and Will!
‘Tis able as a God—
The Maker—of Ourselves—be what—
Such being Finitude!

S2.

To be alive and able to will! That’s as able as any God. We are the maker of ourselves, we can be whatever we want, limited only by physical reality.

Nietzschean, nicht war?

875.1864.The Color of a Queen, is this—

The Color of a Queen, is this—
The Color of a Sun
At setting—this and Amber—
Beryl—and this, at Noon—

And when at night—Auroran widths
Fling suddenly on men—
‘Tis this—and Witchcraft—nature keeps
A Rank—for Iodine—
………………………………………………………………………

My interpretation of ‘The Color of a Queen, is this—’, with ED’s alternate phrase in {curly brackets}:

Stanza 1.

The Color of a Queen, is this —
The Color of a Sun
At setting — this and Amber —
Beryl — and this, at Noon —

S1.

The color of a queen is the color of a sunset: this color, yellow amber, golden beryl, all bright as noon.

Stanza 2.

And when at night — Auroran widths
Fling suddenly on men —
‘Tis this — and Witchcraft — nature {has
An awe of } Iodine —

S2.

And when the northern lights fling suddenly on men, it’s this color and witchcraft. Nature has “An awe of iodine”.
…………………………………………………..

The northern lights are mostly green but often include royal purple.

………………………………………………………………………………

ED added titles to only three poems in her entire fascicles and sets. This poem, ‘The Color of a Queen’, F875, she named “Purple”, the color of iodine.
……………………………………………………..

In addition to her alternative Phrase 1 (above), ED offered three other alternatives for Lines 7-8:

Phrase 1: nature keeps/ A Rank – for
Phrase 2: nature has / respect to –
Phrase 3: nature knows / the rank of –
Phrase 4: nature has / an awe of –

I prefer ED’s alternate, Phrase 4, because “nature has / an awe of iodine” makes more sense than her original “keeps / A Rank — for”. I have used Phrase 4 in my interpretation of Stanza 2.

874.1874. If Blame be my side – forfeit Me –

If Blame be my side – forfeit Me –
But doom me not to forfeit Thee –
To forfeit Thee? The very name
Is sentence from Belief – and Home –

My biographical interpretation, with ED’s alternate word in {curly brackets}[Line 4]:

Stanza 1.

If Blame be my side – forfeit Me –
But doom me not to forfeit Thee –
To forfeit Thee? The very name
Is sentence {exile} from Belief – and Home –

S1.

If I’m to blame for your silence, forfeit me, but please allow me to continue loving you. To ask me to stop loving you would be a sentence of disbelief, an exile from all that I hold dear.
……………………………………………………………………………………………

I suspect that Charles Wadsworth had not communicated with ED since his visit to Amherst in 1860 and that ED is keeping her flame  for him alive despite his silence. He cannot escape ED; she still loved him the day she died, May 15, 1886.