Month: January 2026

810.1864. The Robin for the Crumb

The Robin for the Crumb
Returns no syllable
But long records the Lady’s name
In Silver Chronicle.

My interpretation:

The poet for the food / returns no verbal “Thanks” / but long records the giver’s name / in silver poetry.

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18:

“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee”

Similar, No?

………………………………………………………………………

Franklin (1998) tells us there were “two manuscripts [of Fr810], about 1864 (Variant A) and 1865 (Variant B). ED sent a copy (Variant A) in pencil to her Aunt Lucretia Bullard, who showed her kindnesses while she was in Cambridge for eye treatments. The poem is headed “Dear Aunt” and signed “Affy, Emily”.”

From late April to November 21, 1864, while ED was in the Boston area for eye treatment, she lived with her cousins, Frances and Louise Norcross, daughters of her mother’s sister, at a boarding house located at 86 Austin Street in Cambridge.

While she was there, her Aunt Lucretia gave her bouquets, emotional support, and, apparently, dishes of cooked food. Her aunt, Lucretia Dickinson Bullard, was the eldest sister of Emily Dickinson’s father, Edward. She lived at 24 Center Street in Cambridge, only 1.7 miles from ED’s boarding house.

In 1864, when ED’s parents wanted the finest ophthalmologist for her, it helped to have close family connections in Boston.

 

794.1864.From Us She wandered now a Year

ED composed two variants of Fr794, Variant A in 1864 and Variant B in 1865. Variant A had eight lines in a single stanza. Variant B (1865) split the poem into two quatrains and used alternate words in Lines 5 and 8. I much prefer ED’s original Variant A:

From Us She wandered now a Year,
Her tarrying, unknown,
If Wilderness prevent her feet
Or that Ethereal Zone
No Man has seen and lived
We ignorant must be—
We only know what time of Year
We felt the Mystery.

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function” (F. Scott Fitzgerald. February, 1936. ‘The Crack-Up’. Esquire magazine).

“Dickinson contrasts two possibilities for the deceased: the “Wilderness”, an earthly, physical state, and the “Ethereal Zone”, a supernatural or spiritual realm.” (Google AI).

EDLex defines “Wilderness” as “Emptiness; bleakness; desolation; hollowness”. It defines “Ethereal” as: “Heavenly; celestial; seraphic; of spirit; existing beyond mortality”.

An interpretation of Fr794, in a prose paragraph:

She died a year ago, but we don’t know where she’s lingering. We can’t know whether she’s stumbling in some wilderness or living in Heaven, which no mortal has seen or experienced. We only know that we felt mystified after she died.

PS. The word “Wilderness” brings to mind Luke 4: 1-2:

1. And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2. Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

792.1863.So the Eyes accost—and sunder

Two alternate words in parentheses, both of which I prefer

So the Eyes accost—and sunder
In an Audience—
Stamped—occasionally (in instances)—forever—
So may (can) Countenance

Entertain—without addressing
Countenance of One
In a Neighboring Horizon—
Gone—as soon as known—

With apologies to Oscar Hammerstein (South Pacific, 1949):

“Some enchanted evening
You may see a stranger,
You may see a stranger
Across a crowded room
And somehow you know,
You know even then
That somewhere you’ll see her
Again and again.”

Maybe Hammerstein read ED’s poem, ya think?

Hammerstein is inimitable, but Adam DeGraff parses the poem well at The Prowling Bee:

“This encounter is, perhaps, just an anonymous passing-by on the street. Have you had that encounter with someone, a momentary connection, that feels somehow eternal?”

ED outdoes her typical obscurity in ‘Entertain—without addressing’. It helped to use the Emily Dickinson Lexington (EDL) for clues to her meaning, but when that failed, Oxford English Dictionary (OED) saved the day:

Stanza 1
Accost: meet
Sunder: separate
Audience: group of observers
Stamped: (OED) marked
Countenance: Other; Face

Stanza 2

 Entertain: Receive, welcome
Address: Speak to
Neighboring: Adjacent
Horizon: line that terminates the view when extended on the surface of the earth

ED enjambs Line 4 Stanza 1 and Line 5 Stanza 2. The poem’s first editors, Bianci and Hampson (1929, ‘Further Poems’), published the two-quatrain poem as a single eight-line stanza, which makes sense to me.

An enjambed interpretation of ‘So the Eyes accost—and sunder’:

So the Eyes meet — and separate
In a Group of onlookers —
Eyes marked empathic — in instances — forever —.
“So” — “One” Face may

Welcome — without speaking to —
Another Face — Someone empathic —
In a “Neighboring” Universe —
Gone — as soon as known —

For ED, I think that empathic someone was Reverend Charles Wadsworth, who has “Gone” so “soon” to San Francisco, a “Neighboring” but unseen Universe from hers.

791.1863.My Worthiness is all my Doubt —

ED’s alternate words & “Opon” for “Upon” in parentheses

My Worthiness is all my Doubt —
His Merit — all my fear —
Contrasting which, my quality
Do lowlier — appear —

Lest I should insufficient prove (be)
For His beloved Need —
The Chiefest Apprehension
Upon (Opon) my thronging (crowded; happy) Mind —

Tis true — that Deity to stoop
Inherently incline —
For nothing higher than Itself
Itself can rest (lift -; base -) upon —

So I — the undivine abode
Of His Elect Content —
Conform my Soul — as ’twere a Church,
Unto Her Sacrament —

 

Why would ED’s editors suddenly start correcting her delightful misspelling, “Opon” (Line 8), when they have given it a pass in all poems before this one? Given the arbitrary whims of editors, it’s no wonder ED refused to publish her poems.

Stanza 1

I think “His” refers to Reverend Charles Wadsworth: ED’s “fear[s]” that her mental “quality” “Do lowlier – appear” than “His”. ED even admits that her mind could actually “be” “lesser” than Wadsworth’s (“be” is ED’s alternate last word of Line 5). But elsewhere ED claims her mind is equal to any man’s (F301 and F445):

F301, ‘One Year ago—jots what?’, Lines 17-24:

“You said it hurt you—most—
Mine—was an Acorn’s Breast—
And could not know how fondness grew
In Shaggier Vest—
Perhaps—I couldn’t—
But, had you looked in—
A Giant—eye to eye with you, had been—
No Acorn—then—”

F445, ‘They shut me up in Prose —’:

“They shut me up in Prose —
As when a little Girl
They put me in the Closet —
Because they liked me “still” —

“Still! Could themself have peeped —
And seen my Brain – go round –
They night as wise have lodged a Bird
For Treason – in the Pound –

“Himself has but to will
And easy as a Star
Abolish his Captivity —
And laugh — No more have I —”

I think the reason ED uses the word “appear” in F791 is that she knows she a genius equal to or superior to any male. In this regard, it may be worth noting that Lines 1 and 2 are parallel construction:

“My Worthiness is all my Doubt —
His Merit [is]— all my fear —”.

Stanza 2

OED defines “lest” as “A negative particle of intention or purpose, introducing a clause expressing something to be prevented or guarded against”. For me, Stanza 2 translates

“[T]hat I should not insufficient prove
For His beloved Need — [is]
The Chiefest Apprehension
Upon my thronging Mind —”

In ED’s poems, her recurring image of God in Heaven is not one who “Need[s]” anything, least of all from a backwoods poet whose opinion of God in Heaven varies widely from day to day. I think the capitalize masculine pronoun “His” in Line 6 refers Wadsworth. I also think ED considered Wadsworth her “God” on Earth. In all her poems, he alone shared capitalized referring pronouns with God in Heaven.

Stanza 3

Tis true — that Deity to stoop
Inherently incline —
For nothing higher than Itself
Itself can rest upon —

God in Heaven, especially the one described in ED’s poems, doesn’t need anything “Itself can rest upon”, but God on Earth, Wadsworth, is mortal and does.

Once again, both Johnson (1955) and Franklin (1998) interpret the last word in Stanza 3 as “Upon”. This time, a careful look at ED’s manuscript shows that both are obviously wrong, the manuscript “O” is clearly just that. Are they “taking care of Emily” again? She wouldn’t want it or need it.

Stanza 4

So I — the undivine abode
Of His Elect Content —
Conform my Soul — as ’twere a Church,
Unto Her Sacrament —

ED thought of Wadsworth as God on Earth, who had “Elect[ed]” her as an “undivine abode / Of His Elect Content”, whatever that “Content” was. Being Wadsworth’s “Elect[ed]” “abode” meant it was her responsibility to “Conform my Soul — / as ’twere a Church // Unto Her Sacrament”.

ED Lex defines “Sacrament” as a “Sacred symbol; outward sign; visible token; indication of inward spiritual grace”. ED’s God on Earth has entrusted her with his “Elect Content” and her “outward sign” was that she wore only white as a substitute for a wedding ring and an “indication of inward spiritual grace”.

Wadsworth wrote down and saved his sermons, and some of them were published during his lifetime. Occasionally, ED acquired one of these through a friend who knew she was interested. ED read them and sometimes used their concepts and even words in her poems (Barbot 1941; Sewall 1974; Huffer 2002). After Wadsworth died, James D. Clark, a mutual friend of ED and Wadsworth paid to publish a book of those sermons and sent ED a copy (Habegger 2001).

On August 22, 1882, six months after Wadsworth’s death, ED wrote James D. Clark, thanking him for the book of sermons. Her letter (JL994) reveals her innermost feelings about Wadsworth:

“Dear friend,

“Please excuse the trespass of gratitude – My Sister thinks you will accept a few words in recognition of your great kindness [sending a book of Wadsworth’s sermons, which Clark had privately published].

“In an intimacy of many years with the beloved Clergyman, I have never before spoken with one who knew him, and his Life was so shy and his tastes so unknown, that grief for him seems almost unshared.

“He was my Shepherd from “Little Girl”hood and I cannot conjecture a world without him, so noble was he always – so fathomless – so gentle.

“I saw him two years since for the last time, though how unsuspected!

“He rang one Summer Evening to my glad surprise – “Why did you not tell me you were coming, so I could have it to hope for,” I said – “Because I did not know it myself, I stepped from my Pulpit to the Train,” was his quiet reply. He once remarked in talking “I am liable at any time to die,” but I thought it no omen. He spoke on a previous visit of calling upon you, or perhaps remaining a brief time at your Home in Northampton –

“I hope you may tell me all you feel able of that last interview, for he spoke with warmth of you as his friend, and please believe that your kindness is cherished.

“The Sermons will be a sorrowful Treasure. I trust your health is stronger for the Summer Days, and with tender thanks, ask your kind excuse.

E. Dickinson.”

Mary Elizabeth Barbot. 1941. Emily Dickinson Parallels. The New England Quarterly , 14(4): 689-696.
Sewall, Richard Benson, 1974, The Life of Emily Dickinson.
Habegger, Alfred, 2001, My Wars are Laid Away in Books.
Huffer, Mary Lee Stephenson, 2002, Emily Dickinson’s Experiential Poetics PhD Dissertation

790.1863.Growth of Man—like Growth of Nature—

Three alternate words in parentheses, but I prefer ED’s original choices.

Growth of Man—like Growth of Nature—
Gravitates within—
Atmosphere, and Sun endorse (confirm) it—
But it stir—alone—

Each—its difficult (absolute) Ideal
Must achieve—Itself
Through the solitary prowess
Of a Silent Life—

Effort—is the sole condition—
Patience of Itself—
Patience of opposing forces—
And intact (direct, distinct ) Belief—

Looking on—is the Department
Of its Audience—
But Transaction—is assisted
By no Countenance—

Stanza 1 is the product of a self-oriented poet living in an anthropocentric world.

Line 3: For plants, the Sun is the Sun. For humans, life gets more complicated.

Line 4: To say, “But it stir—alone—“, is false for everyone. Depending on how the cards of life are dealt, some people get better DNA and some people get better parents. No one “stir[s]” alone.

The referent of “it” (Lines 3 & 4) is “Growth of Man/Nature”. Here “Nature” includes all living creatures other than “Man”, a perfect illustration of anthropocentric thinking: Man is separate from Nature. Most living humans hold this belief, which is why global warming is such a wicked problem.

Stanza 2

The “its” in Line 5 may refer to “Man”, each individual human, or “Nature”, each individual living organism, plant or animal, or both. We never know with ED’s pronouns, but the capitalized “Itself” (Line 7) suggests she’s referring to humans. If so, Line 8 claims that each person can reach their “difficult Ideal” only “Through the solitary prowess / Of a Silent Life”. By “prowess”, ED’s probably thinking of mental / emotional power. Sounds like a precursor of Henley’s 1875 “I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul”. That mindset may have been a Victorian thing, but it certainly helped that ED’s parents provided her an excellent education and free room and board for life.

Stanza 3

This little sermonette augments the debatable beliefs of Stanza 2 but does assert truisms: On a personal level, “Effort / Patience / intact Belief” are useful in attaining “difficult Ideal[s]”.

Stanza 4

Looking on—is the Department
Of its Audience—
But Transaction—is assisted
By no Countenance—

For ED, the “Department of its Audience” was herself and occasionally a few select others. Sue, her sister-in-law, and T.W. Higginson contributed comments on poems ED shared, but ED rarely took their advice, as she admits in Lines 15-16:

“But Transaction—is assisted
By no Countenance —”

789.1863.All but Death, can be Adjusted —

All but Death, can be Adjusted —
Dynasties repaired —
Systems — settled in their Sockets —
Citadels — dissolved —

Wastes of Lives — resown with Colors
By Succeeding Springs —
Death — unto itself — Exception —
Is exempt from Change —

ED’s focus on the finality of “Death” belies any Christian optimism about resurrection and heaven. That perspective is amazing given the milieu of her Amherst childhood.

Saint Paul would disagree with ED (I Corinthians 15: 51-58, KJV):

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

 

788.1863.Publication – is the Auction

No alternate words or phrases.

Publication – is the Auction
Of the Mind of Man –
Poverty – be justifying
For so foul a thing

Possibly – but We – would rather
From Our Garret go
White – unto the White Creator –
Than invest – Our Snow –

Thought belong to Him who gave it –
Then – to Him Who bear
It’s Corporeal illustration – sell
The Royal Air –

In the Parcel – Be the Merchant
Of the Heavenly Grace –
But reduce no Human Spirit
To Disgrace of Price –

Adam DeGraff’s explication at The Prowling Bee leaves little to be said, except perhaps for Stanza 2:

“. . . . We – would rather
From Our Garret go
White – unto the White Creator –
Than invest – Our Snow –”

EDLex defines “White” (Line 7) as both an adjective and a noun. Among the EDLex adjective definitions of “white” are “virginal, innocent, chaste, pure, clean, untainted”. Among its noun definitions are “purity, virtue, goodness”.

Among the noun definitions of “Snow (Line 8)” are “purity, innocence, good reputation”.

Given those connotations, I would translate Stanza 2 into the prose sentence:

I [ED] would rather emerge from my bedroom innocent and chaste than “sell” my innocence and good reputation for the “Disgrace of Price”.

Translated, ED seems to equate selling her poetry with prostituting her body, “so foul a thing”, except “Possibly” for “Poverty”.

That last exception, “Possibly” for “Poverty”, softens the judgmental tone of this poem for me. ED might consider selling her poems, if not selling meant “Poverty”.

A translation of Fr788’s four stanzas in four sentences:

Publication is the auction of  the mind of man; only poverty justifies so foul a thing, possibly.

I would rather emerge from my bedroom innocent and chaste than sell my innocence and good reputation for the disgrace of price.

Thinking belongs to God who gave it to us, then to Christ who bore its corporeal illustration to sell God’s royal plan.

In that plan resides Christ, who illustrated God’s grace to us; don’t reduce our human spirit to disgrace of price.