718.1863.The Spirit is the Conscious Ear.

Franklin’s (1998) punctuation and ED’s alternate words in parentheses:

The Spirit is the Conscious Ear —
We actually Hear
When We inspect—that’s audible—
That is admitted—Here—

For other Services (purposes)—as Sound —
There hangs a smaller (minor) Ear
Outside the Castle (Centre, City) —that Contain (Present)—
The other —only—Hear—

Here’s my interpretation, using ED’s alternate words when they help and my clarifications in brackets. Lines 1-3 are enjambed into a single sentence, and Line 4 is a single sentence. Lines 5-7 are also enjambed into a single sentence, and Line 8 is a closing sentence.

The Spirit is the Conscious Ear
We actually Hear
When We inspect [what’s] audible— [in our soul].
That [song] is admitted—Here—[in the Conscious Ear].

For other Purposes—such as Sound [physical sounds such as bird songs]—
There hangs a minor Ear, [the physical ear]
Outside the Castle [of our soul, which] Contain[s] the [Conscious Ear].
The other [the minor ear] only Hear[s] [physical sounds].

In a footnote to this poem, Christine Miller (2016, ‘Emily Dickinson’s Poems’) refers readers to ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ (John Keats, 1819, Stanza 2):

“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”

Given ED’s interest in “the spirit ditties of no tone”, that is, mystical experiences, her “Conscious Ear” is the one that hears God speaking, the “Ear” Saul used to listen to God on the road to Damascus (KJV, Acts 9:3-5):

3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. . .”

It would be hard for any poet, including ED, to improve on Keats. To me, ED’s “Ear” / “Hear” / “Here” // “Ear” / “Hear” sound clunky compared to Keats’ “Heard”, “unheard” // “ear”, “endear’d”.

HOME

After commenting on Poems 1-763 (Franklin) on The Prowling Bee’, I am convinced that (virtually) all of Emily Dickinson’s (ED’s) poems have a factual historical level in addition to their various poetic levels of meaning. The reason for her instant and continuing public adulation (1890 - present) was and is, by far, poetic. She is one of the "Greats" that she always dreamed to be, despite her lifelong refusal to publish. That refusal freed her from criticism and allowed her to explore the outer boundaries of poetic power.

More than a century of scholarly research has resulted in somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 books and published academic papers about ED. A large majority of these publications focus only on the “poetic levels” of one or more of ED’s poems. Publications that consider both the “historic level” and “poetic levels” comprise a small minority. Publications that focus only on the factual history of her life probably number less than 100. (All numbers in this paragraph are my estimates.)

Unfortunately for ED’s universe of readers, these two basic levels (historical and poetic) cannot be separated into two ivory towers. Every history-level publication that I know of includes at least some discussion of the poetic level(s).

The reverse is not true. In fact, authors of the “poetry-level” school seem to avoid commenting on the historical level, sometimes admonishing that a poem must stand on its own, without concern for its historical roots. To my knowledge, there are (virtually) no published “history-level” books or articles that totally ignore ED’s poems and their poetic levels.

Of course, ED’s refusal to publish her poems was only possible because of lifelong financial and daily social/housekeeping support by her family, especially her father and sister, respectively. In addition, throughout her life, the Dickinsons hired servants, first Negro and later Irish, some of whom became much more than housekeepers for ED.

My point is that our appreciation of ED's poems can be enhanced by understanding both poetic and historical levels of her sound and sense. We impoverish ourselves if we ignore their historical base.