826.1864.Denial—is the only fact

826.1864.Denial—is the only fact

I prefer ED’s original phrase in Line 3 and her alternate word in Line 6:

Denial—is the only fact
Perceived by the Denied—
Whose Will—a numb significance (blank intelligence)—
The Day the Heaven died—
.
And all the Earth strove common round—
Without Delight, or Beam (Aim)—
What Comfort was it Wisdom—was—
The spoiler of Our Home?

My interpretation of Fr 826, ‘Denial—is the only fact’, line-by-line:

Surely there was a reason why Wadsworth left the east coast without saying goodbye.
Why did he do that to me?
My heart grew numb on (enjambed)
May 1, 1862, when Wadsworth left New York, bound for San Francisco.
.
And all the Earth together tried to cheer me up, (enjambed)
Without Delight, or Aim;
What Comfort was the Wisdom gained from my 4-year correspondence with him and his one-day visit with me during summer 1860 (enjambed)
When my Life was ruined?

The reason I think this poem focuses on Charles Wadsworth is that all leading ED biographers have posited the identity of her “Master” was Reverend Charles Wadsworth (Whicher 1939, Johnson 1955, Sewall 1974, Habegger 1998). For further details about Wadsworth, see my comments on

Fr811.1864.There is a June when Corn is cut ,
Fr818.1864.Given in Marriage unto Thee, and especially
Fr825.1864.“Unto Me?” I do not know you—

The key to interpreting Fr826 is to answer the question: What was “The Day the Heaven Died?”. ED felt she’d been denied something she really wanted on that day, and I think “The Day the Heaven Died” was literally one calendar day.

One possible answer to my question is Sue’s wedding day. After Sue’s marriage, she could not give ED the attention she craved, but ED only gradually realized the how much she missed Sue’s attention. Sue’s wedding day on July 1, 1856, was not “The Day the Heaven died”. However, we do have evidence for a single day when ED’s “Heaven died”, and that day apparently occurred in September 1861.

On April 25, 1862, eight months later, ED told T.W. Higginson (JL261):

“I had a terror — since September — I could tell to none — and so I sing, as the Boy does by the Burying Ground — because I am afraid —.”

The event that caused ED such terror can only be guessed, and my guess is that during September, 1861, ED received a letter from Charles Wadsworth telling her he was moving to San Francisco.

. . . . . . . . . .

Apparently, ED had some premonition of approaching doom, doom for her anyway, when she sent Wadsworth Master Letter 3 in “summer 1861” (Franklin 1998):

Excerpts from Master Letter 3 Draft, “summer 1861”:

“If you saw a bullet hit a Bird – and he told you he was’nt shot – you might weep at his courtesy, but you would certainly doubt his word –”
.
“One drop more from the gash that stains your Daisy’s bosom – then would you believe?”
.
“God made me — (Sir) Master — I did’nt be — myself.” I dont know how it was done – He built the heart in me —”
.
“If it had been God’s will that I might breathe where you breathed – and find the place – myself – at night – if I never forget that I am not with you, and that sorrow and frost are nearer than I – if I wish with a might I cannot repress – that mine were the Queen’s place – the love of the – Plantagenet is my only apology.
.
“I want to see you more — Sir — than all I wish for in this world and the wish — altered a little — will be my only one — for the skies.”
.
“Could you come to New England — this summer — could you come to Amherst — Would you like to come — Master? Would it do harm — yet we both fear God — Would Daisy disappoint you — no — she would’nt — Sir — it were comfort forever — just to look in your face, while you looked in mine — then I could play in the woods till Dark — till you take me where Sundown cannot find us — and the true keep coming — till the town is full. Will you tell me if you will?”

The author of Master Letter 3 Draft could easily consider herself:

“. . . . . . . . . . the Denied —
Whose Will — a numb significance —
The Day the Heaven died —”

. . . . . . . . . .

ED’s life became terror “The Day the Heaven died”. All the things she loved before that day, her poetry, her garden, her family, no longer gave her a “Beam” of inspiration that made her life worth living. What comfort was it now, the “Wisdom” she acquired from her relationship with Wadsworth? That failure spoiled ED’s “Home”, especially her delight in writing poetry.

Now she creates poems to forget the past and fight depression.

“And all the Earth strove common round—
Without Delight, or Beam—
What Comfort was it Wisdom—was—
The spoiler of Our Home?”

Franklin, R. W. (ed.). 1986. The Master Letters of Emily Dickinson. Amherst College Press,
Habegger, Alfred. 2001. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books
Johnson, Thomas H. 1955. Emily Dickinson: An Interpretive Biography
Sewall, Richard. 1974. The Life of Emily Dickinson
Whicher, G.F. 1938. This Was a Poet

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.