780.1863.The Birds reported from the South —

The Birds reported from the South —
A News express to Me —
A spicy Charge, My little Posts —
But I am deaf — Today —

The Flowers — appealed — a timid Throng —
I reinforced the Door —
Go blossom for the Bees — I said —
And trouble Me — no More —

The Summer Grace, for Notice strove —
Remote — Her best Array —
The Heart — to stimulate the Eye
Refused too utterly —

At length, a Mourner, like Myself,
She drew away austere —
Her frosts to ponder — then it was
I recollected Her —

She suffered Me, for I had mourned —
I offered Her no word —
My Witness — was the Crape I bore —
Her — Witness — was Her Dead —

Thenceforward — We — together dwelt —
I never questioned Her —
Our Contract
A Wiser Sympathy

ED delights in pronoun play and this poem is no exception. The “Her” in Line 10 must refer to “Summer”, but the “She” in Line 14 must refer to “Heart” in Line 11, as do the “Her”[s] in Lines 15, 16, 17, 18, 20 (twice), and 22. The “We” in Line 21 probably refers to both ED and her “Heart” at the same time, which is a clever personification of ED’s Heart.

Stanza 1

Line 1, “The Birds reported from the South” tells us this poem dates about late spring-early summer, and Franklin dates this poem “about late 1863”. On May 1, 1862, Reverend Charles Wadsworth, one of the two loves ED’s life, sailed with his family from New York, bound for San Francisco, as far as she knew, never to return. In Line 3, I prefer ED’s alternate word, “Friends”, over “Posts” because it’s friendlier, and softens Line 4, “But I am deaf – Today”.

Stanza 4

In Line 16, I much prefer ED’s alternate phrase, “rose to comfort”, over the four-syllable word, “recollected” because it suggests true sister-like empathy between ED and her “Heart” and because it prepares readers for their silent conversation in Stanzas 5 and 6. Those last two stanzas of the poem remind me of the intimacy ED and Sue shared before Sue and Austin announced their engagement in March 1853 (‘One Sister have I in our house’, Fr5, 1858).

After her engagement, Sue naturally shifted her attention from ED to Austin, leading ED to pen an unwise breakup letter on August 1, 1854 (JL173):

“Sue – you can go or stay – There is but one alternative – We differ often lately, and this must be the last.
…………………………

We have walked very pleasantly – Perhaps this is the point at which our paths diverge – then [I] pass on singing Sue, and up the distant hill I journey on.”

Stanza 5

Line 17, “She suffered Me, for I had mourned”, probably refers to ED’s broken heart. EDLex defines “suffer” as “to bear a burden’, which implies ED personifies her “Heart”, which helped ED bear her burden of sadness. In Line 19, “My Witness — was the Crape (Black) I bore”, I prefer ED’s alternate word “Black” over “Crape” for two reasons. First, I like the alliteration: “Black I bore”. Even though EV always wore white clothing, “Black I bore” may refer to the 19^th century custom of wearing a black ribbon or pendant to indicate mourning. Second, the English word is not “crape”, but “crepe”, which rhymes with “grape” and derives from the French circumflexed “crêpe”, a type of crinkly cloth used for funeral dress (OED).

The clue to ED’s burden was the “Black” she wore in mourning. ED’s Heart had been broken by a “Dead” love relationship, probably following the departure of Charles Wadsworth for San Francisco in May, 1862.

Stanza 6

In Lines 23-24, I prefer ED’s alternate “Compact” because “Contract” sounds like legalese and “Silent” instead of “Wiser” for its alliteration: “Silent Sympathy”.

In previous summers, ED’s “Heart” had “stimulated” her eye to enjoy the beauty of spring and summer, but not this year. Instead, the pain of separation anxiety, a life-long curse ED “suffered”, blocked her usual springtime rejuvenation of inspiration (McDermott, J.T. 2001.Emily Dickinson Revisited – A Study of Periodicity in Her Work, Am J Psychiatry, Vol. 158:686–690.

For me, ED’s many alternative words, phrases, and lines in the manuscript of this poem (Fr780) are more complicated than those of any previous poem (Fr1-Fr779). It makes me wonder if ED’s fun-loving spirit delights in our fumbling because we’re mystified and keep coming back for more.

Fr780 with all changes and ED’s alternate words and phrases in parentheses:

The Birds reported from the South —
A News express to Me —
A spicy Charge, My little (Friends) —
But I am deaf — Today —

The Flowers — appealed — a timid Throng —
I reinforced the Door —
Go blossom for the Bees — I said —
And trouble Me — no More —

The Summer Grace, for Notice strove —
Remote — Her best Array —
The Heart — to stimulate the Eye
Refused too utterly —

At length, a Mourner, like Myself,
She drew away austere —
Her frosts to ponder — then it was
I (rose to comfort) Her —

She suffered Me, for I had mourned —
I offered Her no word —
My Witness — was the (Black) I bore —
Her — Witness — was Her Dead —

Thenceforward — We — together dwelt —
I never questioned Her
Our (Compact)
A (Silent) Sympathy

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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.