818.1864.Given in Marriage unto Thee

Franklin (1998) tells us, “Manuscripts, two (one in part), about 1864 and 1865. The first stanza was sent to Susan Dickinson about 1864, written in pencil, signed ‘Emily’.”

One alternate word, in Line 7. I prefer ED’s original “Ring”:

Given in Marriage unto Thee
Oh thou Celestial Host —
Bride of the Father and the Son
Bride of the Holy Ghost —

Other Betrothal shall dissolve —
Wedlock of Will, decay —
Only the Keeper of this Ring (Seal)
Conquer Mortality —

EDLex defines “Celestial” (Line 2) as “Godly”.

My interpretation of F818, ‘Given in Marriage unto Thee’:

1. Given in marriage to you, Charles Wadsworth, “Celestial Host”, I became “Bride of the Father and the Son, Bride of the Holy Ghost”.

2. Any “Other Betrothal shall dissolve”, any “Other Wedlock of Will, decay” and “Only the Keeper of this Ring” shall “Conquer Mortality”.

I think ED was the “Keeper of this Ring”. She believed her poems would “Conquer Mortality”, and she was right.

ED’s four most intense years of spiritual feelings for Charles Wadsworth were 1861-1864, during which time she composed 708 poems, an average of one poem every two days. During her other 33 years of writing poetry, 1850-1860 and 1865-1886, she wrote 1171 poems, an average of one poem every 35 days. Doing the math, ED’s rate of poem production during 1861-1863 was eighteen times faster than during her other years of writing poetry.

Any other poet would die for a muse like Wadsworth. ED has been there, done that, and moved on to her life’s pledged purpose: composing poetry just for the sake of poetry.

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ED’s oeuvre was 1879 poems. Of these, two included the word “Marriage”, this poem, ‘Given in Marriage unto Thee’ and Fr325, ‘There came a Day—at Summer’s full’. Stanzas 6-7 of Fr325 describe an earthly lover, probably Reverend Charles Wadsworth. He was 16 years older than ED, happily married, and had two children, which is why ED had to wait until they both had died and could meet in Heaven:

“And so when all the time had failed—
Without external sound—
Each—bound the other’s Crucifix—
We gave no other Bond—

Sufficient troth—that we shall rise—
Deposed—at length—the Grave—
To that new Marriage—
Justified—through Calvaries of Love!”

ED used the word “Betrothal” or “Betrothed” in four poems, this one (F818) and three others:

Fr 194, ‘Title divine, is mine’, which is also a “Calvary” poem, ED’s codeword for Wadsworth. ED probably became “The Wife without the Sign” in 1860 when Wadsworth visited her at Homestead:“Title divine, is mine.
The Wife without the Sign –
Acute Degree conferred on me –
Empress of Calvary –
Royal, all but the Crown –
Betrothed, without the Swoon
God gives us Women”
Fr1412, ‘March is the Month of Expectation’, where “betrothal” concerns the month of March,
Fr1657, ‘Betrothed to Righteousness might be’, a delightful quatrain joking about “Righteousness”:“Betrothed to Righteousness might be
An Ecstasy discreet
But Nature relishes the Pinks
Which she was taught to eat”

ED used the word “Wedlock” in two poems, this one (F818) and Fr698, ‘I live with Him – I see His face’:

“I live with Him — I see His face —
I go no more away
For Visitor — or Sundown —
Death’s single privacy

The Only One — forestalling Mine —
And that — by Right that He
Presents a Claim invisible —
No wedlock — granted Me —

I live with Him — I hear His Voice —
I stand alive — Today —
To witness to the Certainty
Of Immortality —

Taught Me — by Time — the lower Way —
Conviction — Every day —
That Life like This — is stopless —
Be Judgment — what it may —”

Line 1 of F698, “I live with Him — I see His face “, echoes Master Letter 3’s focus on her Master’s face, and the capitalized “Him” of Line 9, I live with Him — I hear His Voice” could only refer to Wadsworth, not God, whom she certainly does not “live with”.

These shared words and their contexts are enough circumstantial evidence to compel me to conclude that F818 is about Charles Wadsworth, not Sue Dickinson.
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In a happy way, Fr818 feels like an epitaph for ED’s four-year, spiritual love affair with Charles Wadsworth.

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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.