846.1864.A Drop fell on the Apple Tree—

846.1864.A Drop fell on the Apple Tree—

A Drop fell on the Apple Tree—
Another—on the Roof—
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves—
And made the Gables laugh—

A few went out to help the Brook
That went to help the Sea—
Myself Conjectured were they Pearls—
What Necklaces could be—

The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads—
The Birds jocoser sung—
The Sunshine threw his Hat away—
The Bushes— spangles flung—

The Breezes brought dejected Lutes—
And bathed them in the Glee—
The Orient showed a single Flag,
And signed the fête away— …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

This unusually understandable poem doesn’t need an interpretation, but for enlightening comments on it see Adam W. DeGraff’s explication on The Prowling Bee,

https://bloggingdickinson.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-drop-fell-on-apple-tree.html
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Line 9: “The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads—”:

Road builders had to add fill to raise roads in wet areas, especially in 1858 when most roads were dirt. During dry spells raised dirt roads are drier and therefore dustier than unraised roads. During wet spells, frequently used dirt roads become quagmires.

Now we take macadam or asphalt roads for granted.”
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Lines 13-14:

The Breezes brought dejected Lutes—
And bathed them in the Glee—

During a hot dry spell in a southern summer, a breeze feels like a hot hair dryer. Speaking from experience of a childhood in Arkansas, a summer downpour after weeks of drought feels like a gift from God and the air smells heavenly, which we attributed to lightning-created ozone. Now I know ozone is odorless, so go figur.
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Lines 15-16

The Orient showed a single Flag,
And signed the fête away—

For me, “Orient” and sunrise trump sundown. When “The Sunshine threw his Hat away—” in L11, “he” raised his hat to remove its shadow and day began.

Speaking from years of rising at 4 AM to deliver newspapers or, in ED’s case, to fix breakfast for her early rising father, that schedule creates habits that continue through life.

ED wanted to spend her morning hours writing poetry and, with a poem (F35, 1858), asked her father to hire house help:

Sleep is supposed to be
By souls of sanity
The shutting of the eye.

Sleep is the station grand
Down wh’, on either hand
The hosts of witness stand!

Morn is supposed to be
By people of degree
The breaking of the Day.

Morning has not occurred!

That shall Aurora be—
East of Eternity— One with the banner gay—
One in the red array—
That is the break of Day!

ED thanked her father for granting her wish (over strong objections from his wife) by dedicating this poem to him:

“To my Father — to whose untiring efforts in my behalf, I am indebted for my morning hours. — viz — 3.AM to 12. PM. These grateful lines are inscribed by his aff. Daughter.” (JL198, 1858)

The hours of this summer party were 3AM to 6 AM, which ED would be used to now that she has time to experience dawn outdoors. At that time, birds are “jocuser”.
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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.