ED-LarryB

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, forget 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.
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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.

873.1864.It is a lonesome Glee—

It is a lonesome Glee—
Yet sanctifies the Mind—
With fair association—
Afar upon the Wind

A Bird to overhear
Delight without a Cause—
Arrestless as invisible—
A matter of the Skies.
………………………………………………..

My biographical interpretation of F873, ‘It is a lonesome Glee’, with ED’s alternate word [Line 4] in {curly brackets}:

Stanza 1.

It is a lonesome Glee—
Yet sanctifies the Mind—
With fair association—
Afar {Remote; Astray} upon the Wind

S1.

Composing poems is a lonesome joy, but it sanctifies the mind with lovely word associations that are remote from everyday conversation.

Stanza 2.

A Bird to overhear
Delight without a Cause—
Arrestless as invisible—
A matter of the Skies.

S2.

A robin’s song, like a poem, is a delight without a cause, unstoppable and invisible, a gift of song to the world.
……………………………………………………….

To me, this poem, F873, ‘It is a lonesome Glee’, is a restatement or continuation of the previous poem, F872, ‘Deprived of other Banquet’. They share allusions: “Robin” in F872 and “bird” in F873. In her letters and other poems, ED has likened herself to a bird, sometimes a wren, sometimes a robin, sometimes another species.

872.1864.Deprived of other Banquet

Deprived of other Banquet,
I entertained Myself—
At first—a scant nutrition—
An insufficient Loaf—

But grown by slender addings
To so esteemed a size
‘Tis sumptuous enough for me—
And almost to suffice

A Robin’s famine able—
Red Pilgrim, He and I—
A Berry from our table
Reserve—for charity—
…………………………………………………………….

My biographical interpretation, :with ED’s alternate words in {curly brackets}:

Stanza 1.

Deprived of other Banquet,
I entertained Myself—
At first—a scant nutrition {plain Regaling}—
An insufficient {innutritious} Loaf—

S1.

I forwent a married life and motherhood for poetry and, at first, entertained myself, but that felt insufficient for a full life.

Stanza 2.

But grown by slender addings
To so esteemed a size
‘Tis sumptuous enough for me—
And almost to suffice

S2.

But gradually my oeuvre became esteemable, sumptuous enough for me, and almost enough to suffice for a satisfying life.

Stanza 3.

A Robin’s famine {palate; hunger}— able—
Red Pilgrim, He and I—
A Berry from our table
Reserve—for charity—

Despite my hunger for a fuller life, I feel my poems, like a robin’s song, are a gift to the world.

871.1864.The hallowing of Pain

The hallowing of Pain
Like hallowing of Heaven,
Obtains at a corporeal cost—
The Summit is not given . . . [Stanzas 1 and 2 are enjambed]

. . . To Him who strives severe
At middle of the Hill—
But He who has achieved the Top—
All—is the price of All—
……………………………………………………………………

My interpretation of F871, ‘The hallowing of Pain’, with ED’s Alternate words in {curly brackets}:

Stanza 1.

The hallowing of Pain
Like hallowing of Heaven,
Obtains at a corporeal cost –
The Summit is not given –

S1.

Just because you spend a lot of time writing poetry, even to the point of loneliness, becoming a great poet is not a given . . .

Stanza 2.

.To Him who strives severe
At middle {Bottom; centre} of the Hill –
But He who has achieved the Top {Crest}-
All – is the price of All –

S2.

. . . to Him who works hard but is a second-rate poet. To become a truly great poet requires commitment of your entire life.
………………………………………………………………………….

Reminds me of a student complaining about a grade of D on an exam: “But Dr. Barden, I studied 8 hours for this exam!”
……………………………………………………………………………….

 

870.1864. None can experience stint

None can experience stint
Who Bounty- have not known –
The fact of Famine – could not be
Except for Fact of Corn –

Want – is a meagre Art
Acquired by Reverse –
The Poverty that was not Wealth –
Cannot be Indigence
………………………………………………………………………………….

My interpretation, with ED’s alternative phrases in {curly brackets}:

Stanza 1.

None can experience stint
Who Bounty- have not known –
The fact of Famine – could not be      {Nor fact of Famine could exist -}
Except for Fact of Corn –

S1.

Stanza 1 is two couplets, each saying you can’t know poverty unless you’ve been rich. Poverty and wealth are relative to your awareness of others’ worth.

 

Stanza 2.

Want – is a meagre Art
Acquired by Reverse
The Poverty that was not Wealth –      {It is that Poverty was Wealth -}
Cannot be Indigence –                                {Enables Indigence -}

S2.

Stanza 2 also is two couplets, each saying poverty and wealth are relative to your awareness of others’ worth, but ED gives us alternatives for Lines 7-8:

S2A.

Being poor without knowing it cannot be indigence.

S2B.

Being poor after being wealthy enables indigence.

Seems to me that S2B isn’t universally true.

869.1864.What I see not, I better see –

What I see not, I better see—
Through Faith—my Hazel Eye
Has periods of shutting—
But, No lid has Memory—

For frequent, all my sense obscured
I equally behold
As someone held a light unto
The Features so beloved—-

And I arise—and in my Dream—
Do Thee distinguished Grace—
Till jealous Daylight interrupt—
And mar thy perfectness—
…………………………………………………………………

My interpretation, ED’s alternate words in {curly brackets}; [square brackets] are mine:

Stanza 1.

 

What {When} I see not, I better see –
Through Faith -My Hazel Eye
Has periods of shutting –
But, No lid has Memory-

S1.

What I can’t see with my hazel eye, I see better through faith because my hazel eye has periods of shutting, but my faith eye has no lid blocking memories.

 

Stanza 2.

For frequent {often}, all my sense obscured
I equally behold
As some one held a light unto {opon}
The Features so beloved –

S2.

For frequently, when my physical senses fail, I see you equally well, with all the features I so belove, as if someone held a light on them.

 

Stanza 3

And I arise – and in my Dream –
Do Thee distinguished Grace –
Till jealous Daylight interrupt—
And mar thy perfectness—

S3.

I awake and recall my dream, which you [Thee] distinguished with your grace, till jealous daylight interrupts and mars your [thy] perfectness.
…………………………………………………………………………

I think “Thee” [Line 10] is Charles Wadsworth, who shares capitalized pronouns with God in ED’s poems. Context [Line 8] rules out God as “Thee”. However, note that ED uses lowercase “thy” in Line 12.
……………………………………………………………………

ED’s manuscript shows that she did not break Stanza 2, an octet, into two quartets (Franklin 1998), but the first bona fide editor of this poem (Johnson 1955) took that liberty. Subsequent publications, including Adam DeGraff’s blog,  ‘The Prowling Bee’ , and this blog, ‘ED-LarryB’, have followed Johnson’s lead.
…………………………………………………………………………

This poem, F869, 1864, ‘What I see not, I better see –’, exhibits a change in ED’s religious attitude from agnosticism to a belief of her own liking:

In F866, 1864, ‘This Dust, and its Feature—’, she described “This Dust”, “This Mind”, and “This World” as insignificant in a “second Future”. These statements are not agnostic. Rather, they serve as bones for ED’s emerging religion, which, unlike Judaism or Christianity, is “too concluded . . for its absorbed attention’s remotest scrutiny—” of physical reality: “This Dust”, “This Mind”, and “This World”.
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868.1864. Fairer through Fading – as the Day

Fairer through Fading — as the Day
Into the Darkness dips away —
Half Her Complexion of the Sun —
Hindering — Haunting — Perishing —

Rallies Her Glow, like a dying Friend —
Teasing with glittering Amend —
Only to aggravate the Dark
Through an expiring — perfect — look —
………………………………………………………………….

My interpretation:

Stanza 1.

Fairer through Fading — as the Day
Into the Darkness dips away —
Half Her Complexion of the Sun —
Hindering — Haunting — Perishing —

S1.

The fading sky grows fairer as day dips into darkness. Half her color is the complexion of the Sun, which hinders her death and haunts us as she perishes.

 

Stanza 2.

Rallies Her Glow, like a dying Friend —
Teasing with glittering Amend —
Only to aggravate the Dark
Through an expiring — perfect — look —

S2.

Like a dying friend, she rallies her glow, teasing us with glittering gilt, if only to aggravate death with one last perfect complexion as she dies.
…………………………………………………………………..

At times, I’ve noticed sunset give one perfect last complexion as she drops into darkness, and, at times, I’ve noticed sunrise give one perfect first complexion as she rises from the dark. Both moments reaffirm for me that life is worth living. How about you?