Emily Dickinson Poetry Blog
867.1864.I felt a Cleaving in my Mind –
I felt a Cleaving in my Mind –
As if my Brain had split –
I tried to match it – Seam by Seam –
But could not make them fit.
The thought behind, I strove to join
Unto the thought before –
But Sequence raveled out of Sound
Like Balls – upon a Floor.
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My interpretation:
Where was I? I lost my train of thought and can’t remember what I was going to say. Must not have been important.
866.1864.This Dust, and its Feature—
This Dust, and its Feature—
Accredited—Today—
Will in a second Future—
Cease to identify—
This Mind, and its measure—
A too minute Area
For its enlarged inspection’s
Comparison—appear—
This World, and its species
A too concluded show
For its absorbed Attention’s
Remotest scrutiny—
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My interpretation, with ED’s alternate words {in curly brackets}:
Stanza 1
This Dust, and its Feature—
Accredited—Today—
Will in a second Future {Being}—
Cease to identify—
S1.
In afterlife, this body, with all its features, identifiable today, will cease to be recognizable.
Stanza 2.
This Mind, and its measure—
A too minute Area
For its enlarged inspection’s
Comparison—appear—
S2
In afterlife, this mind, with all its poetry, will in afterlife appear tiny compared to its enlarged area.
Stanza 3.
This World, and its species {Nations; Fashions; symbols; standards}
A too concluded show
For its absorbed Attention’s
Remotest scrutiny—
S3.
In afterlife, this world, and all its species, will be a too concluded performance for absorbed attention or remotest scrutiny.
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If ED really believed these three stanzas in 1864, then she had abandoned agnosticism for a religion, albeit a religion “too concluded . . for its absorbed attention’s remotest scrutiny—”.
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Simple, no? Well, here’s the invited explication on ‘The Prowling Bee’:
We are living in the era of the rise of what are known as the “large language models,” or LLMs. In this context, one might think of Dickinson’s poems, and this poem in particular, as a miniature language model. Though known as one of the foundational lyricists of the American tradition, Dickinson was also a technician; her hymnlike verses can be analyzed as spiritual machines.
In 2017, a group of eight technical researchers published a seminal paper in the field of deep learning titled “Attention Is All You Need.” In the paper, they introduced the transformer, a piece of technical architecture that made the modern incarnation of artificial intelligence possible. The etymology of the word “attention,” which appears in line 11 of Fr866, is worth considering here: from the Latin tendere, it means to reach for, to stretch or extend. Language itself is a tool for such extension; the M-dash, in the
Dickinsonian context, a kind of reaching for, or stretching toward, a phrase.
Latinate words are notably spatial, constructed as they often are of directional affixes and roots. As with “Attention,” the word “Accredited,” in line two of the poem, from the Latin credere, also implies a kind of reaching or extension, in this case of credit outward (ac-). “This Dust, and its Feature—” writes Dickinson in the first of the poem’s three stanzas,
Accredited—Today—
Will in a second Future—
Cease to identify—
The “Dust” in this case might be dust on a piece of furniture, or dust motes floating in the sunlight, or possibly even the dust – composed of sloughed off skin cells or grime – layered on a woman’s skin. One thinks of the expression “dust to dust.” “Dust” in this instance implies mortality, the ephemeral flesh; that which is “Accredited” – as in extended credence, a kind of credit – in the moment, but which will, in due time, “cease to identify,” to exist. What was once a “Future” inexorably transforms into a present; what was expansively alive will become dead. The credit – of life, love, time – will no longer be extended.
In the second stanza of the poem, Dickinson takes us from “This Dust” to “This Mind” – from the material flesh to the seat of cognition and awareness:
This Mind, and its measure—
A too minute Area
For its enlarged inspection’s
Comparison—appear
Here, once again, the poem becomes spatial – literally an “area,” and a measurable one at that. This area is “too minute,” too small to accommodate the “enlarged inspection’s/ Comparison.” As with “Attention” and “Accredited,” the word “inspection” is Latinate, from the root specere, which means to look, a looking into or inside (the prefix in-). Whereas “This Dust, and its Feature” were accredited, extended outward into the material body and into time, “This Mind, and its measure” try to extend inward; but, alas, its “Area” is “too minute,” not big enough. The divine mystery – of consciousness and its desire to in-spect, or look into, itself – cannot find adequate accommodation in the “measure” of the “Mind.” To return to the analogy with LLMs introduced at the beginning of this commentary, the “measure” of the material mind doesn’t scale, its processing power is inadequate to the task of full spiritual self-awareness.
In the third and final stanza of the poem, Dickinson pans out from the interior inspections of the Mind to the expansive vista of “This World” and “its species.” Here, one might imagine a kind of pastoral scene, of animals and plants – also material, a permutation of this “Dust” – grazing and gamboling along the countryside. Who or what made “This World,” full as it is of material, kinetic life? As with so many of Dickinson’s poems, a sense of divine mystery pervades. The poem functions as both a prayer and paean – a Platonic love poem addressed to a Creator. This Creator, unnamed here, is the locus of a remote, “absorbed Attention” that wishes to “scrutinize,” to inspect “This World.” But alas, “This World” is “too concluded,” too disappointingly finite.
Dickinson’s poetics are preternaturally algorithmic. One might describe her poems as linguistic equations, studded as they are by the quantitative dash. But there is a tragedy inherent in Dickinson’s intentionally composed poems – they seem to promise a summation, a kind of balance or totality, and yet there is always an unsettling remainder, an inability to tally the metaphysical reality. The flesh, including the mind and its cognition, is simply not equipped to make sense of the material context in which it finds itself, no matter how strenuously it extends itself outward or attends. Attention in this case – even that of a writer as sensitive and attuned to the subtleties of language as Dickinson – is simply not enough, or possibly too much.
-Katy Lederer
865.1864.Expectation — is Contentment —
Expectation — is Contentment —
Gain — Satiety —
But Satiety — Conviction
Of Necessity
Of an Austere trait in Pleasure —
Good, without alarm
Is a too established Fortune —
Danger — deepens Sum —
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My interpretation of F865, ‘Expectation — is Contentment —’:
Stanza 1
Expectation — is Contentment —
Gain — Satiety —
But Satiety — Conviction
Of Necessity
S1.
Getting there is all the fun. Once there, there becomes ordinary, but being there convinces us that being there is a necessity.
Stanza 2.
Of an Austere trait in Pleasure —
Good, without alarm
Is a too established Fortune —
Danger — deepens Sum —
S2.
Self-disciplined pleasure is good, without alarm, but a too established fortune is not. Risk deepens pleasure’s sum.
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864.1864.A Plated Life – diversified
A Plated Life – diversified
With Gold and Silver Pain
To prove the presence of the Ore
In Particles – ’tis when
A Value struggle – it exist –
A Power – will proclaim
Although Annihilation pile
Whole Chaoses on Him –
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ED Lexicon Def. 1 of “plated”:
“Impure; covered with a thin layer of precious metal on the surface which deceptively conceals an interior of baser metal; [fig.] counterfeit; hypocritical; dissembling; duplicitous; two-faced.”
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My biographical interpretation of F785:
Stanza 1.
A Plated Life – diversified
With Gold and Silver Pain
To prove the presence of the Ore
In Particles – ’tis when [enjambed with Stanza 2]
S1.
Wadsworth leads a hypocritical life, a charismatic minister in public and a seducer of troubled young women in private. Yes, his personality includes bits of gold and silver Christianity, which suggests sincerity, but he uses those qualities to gain and betray trust, causing much pain. I know . . . [enjambed with Stanza 2]
Stanza 2
A Value struggle – it exist –
A Power – will proclaim
Although Annihilation pile
Whole Chaoses on Him –
S2.
. . . a value struggle exists his soul, a struggle between good and evil, but when he dies annihilation will pile whole chaoses on his soul.
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An immediate clue to the recipient of this poem is the capitalized “Him” at the end of this poem. ED honors only God and Reverend Wadsworth with the capitalized pronoun, “Him”, and the context proves ED’s not talking about God.
A further clue is in Line 1 of F785, ‘It dropped so low — in my Regard —’, where ED castigates Reverend Wadsworth for seducing her in summer 1860, then leaving town and not responding to her letters and poems sent to him.
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P.S. In 1879, 15 years after she wrote F864, ‘A Plated Life – diversified’, ED composed a camouflaged quatrain that said she would like to know how Wadsworth was doing. For the 12th and last time she used her codeword for him: Calvary:
Spurn the temerity –
Rashness of Calvary –
Gay were Gethsemane
Knew we of thee –
Apparently, ED sent the poem to Wadsworth who took her poem as an invitation to visit because he arrived unannounced at her front door in 1880. No doubt, after the 20-year hiatus, the maturer twosome spent an afternoon strolling down memory lane.
In an 1886 letter, written to George Clark one month before her death, ED described Wadsworth’s visit in endearing terms:
“. . . . . Going Home,” was he not an Aborigine of the Sky? The last time he came in Life [summer 1880], I was with my Lilies and Heliotropes, said my Sister to me, “the Gentleman with the deep voice wants to see you, Emily,” hearing him ask of the Servant. “Where did you come from,” I said, for he spoke like an Apparition.
“I stepped from my Pulpit [an invited sermon in Northampton, MA, 12 miles SW of Amherst] the Train” was [his] simple reply, and when I asked “how long”, “Twenty Years” said he with inscrutable roguery – but the loved Voice has ceased . . . . .”.
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863.1864.This Bauble was preferred of Bees –
This Bauble was preferred of Bees –
By Butterflies admired
At Heavenly – Hopeless Distances –
Was justified of Bird –
Did Noon – enamel – in Herself
Was Summer to a Score
Who only knew of Universe –
It had created Her –
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This from David Preest’s ‘Analysis and Notes of Emily Dickinson Poetry’, © 2012. Unfortunately, Preest’s poem summaries are no longer available on the Internet]:
“Poem F863 ‘This Bauble was preferred of Bees’
“Judith Farr believes that the ‘Bauble’ of this poem is Sue. She was ‘preferred’ and ‘admired’ by the ‘bees’ and ‘butterflies’ of Amherst society, and even the bird that was Emily regarded her as good and ‘Heavenly’ – at a ‘Hopeless Distance.’ If only ‘Noon’ could have made this Bauble in lasting enamel, she could have been a whole Summer to a score of people who thought her the best thing in the world, instead of just the Bauble of a moment.”
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Based on Judith Farr’s insight and David Preest’s reputation as an interpreter of Emily Dickinson’s poems, here is my biographical interpretation, with ED’s alternate words and phrase in {curly brackets}:
Stanza 1:
This Bauble was preferred of Bees –
By Butterflies admired {adored; desired}
At Heavenly – Hopeless Distances –
Was justified of Bird – {Of Bird – was justified -}
S1:
Sue’s wit and charisma attracts the admiration of Amherst’s social bees and butterflies. I, a little wren who admires Sue from a heavenly yet hopeless distance, find Sue’s personal charisma and poetic insights irresistible, but sometimes her empathy with others seems superficial.
Stanza 2:
Did Noon – enamel {enable; embellish} – in Herself
Was Summer to a Score
Who only knew of Universe –
It had created {afforded} Her –
S2:
If only Sue could enable her party personality to shine light into the lives of a score of people, she could brighten their days, but Sue feels that the Universe created her for herself. [Note the reverentially capitalized “Her” in Line 8, a sign of ED’s high regard for Sue.]
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785.1863.It dropped so low — in my Regard —
It dropped so low — in my Regard —
I heard it hit the Ground —
And go to pieces on the Stones
At bottom of my Mind —
Yet blamed the Fate that fractured — less
Than I reviled Myself,
For entertaining Plated Wares
Upon My Silver Shelf —
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ED Lexicon Def. 1 of “plated”:
“Impure; covered with a thin layer of precious metal on the surface which deceptively conceals an interior of baser metal; [fig.] counterfeit; hypocritical; dissembling; duplicitous; two-faced.”
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My biographical interpretation of F785, ‘It dropped so low — in my Regard —’:
Stanza 1
It dropped so low — in my Regard —
I heard it hit the Ground —
And go to pieces on the Stones
At bottom of my Mind —
S1
Wadsworth’s reputation dropped so low in my regard, I heard it hit the ground and shatter on the stones at the bottom of my Mind.
Stanza 2
Yet blamed the Fate that fractured — less
Than I reviled Myself,
For entertaining Plated Wares
Upon My Silver Shelf —
S2
However, I blamed Wadsworth less than I blamed myself for participating in his hypocritical seduction in the orchard behind my house.
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For the first time, ED did not copy her alternative words and phrases in ink at the same time she copied her poem. Instead, she waited 17 years (1880) and then penciled her alternatives between her original ink lines.
Both Johnson (1955, ‘Complete Poems’) and Franklin (1998, ‘Poems of Emily Dickinson’) published Line 4 without using ED’s 1880 alternate phrase, which was their standard protocol, but they published her 1880 alternates in Lines 5 and 6, which was definitely not their usual protocol. They may have been “protecting Emily” by ignoring protocol in Lines 5 and 6 and not in Line 4. Whatever their reasons, they improved her poem:
Original Stanza 1 sounds better than
“It dropped so low — in my Regard —
I heard it hit the Ground —
And go to pieces {in the Ditch}
At bottom of my Mind —”
And modified Stanza 2 sounds better than her original (above):
“Yet blamed the Fate that {flung it} — less
Than I {denounced} Myself,
For entertaining Plated Wares
Upon My Silver Shelf —”
Line 6, “Than I reviled myself”, may reveal how ED felt in 1863, but apparently she had mellowed by 1880.
The postcendant of “It” (Line 1) is “Plated Wares” (Line 7), a metaphor for “anything you once fell for” but no longer revere (Adam DeGraff, AKA d. scribe, ‘The Prowling Bee’). “It” may be ED’s adolescent romantic infatuation (at age 25-32) with Rev. Charles Wadsworth, which I think is the seed of this poem, or the unfinished quality of the poem itself, which ED apparently realized in 1880, or, something else.
There must be a reason ED would juxtapose this poem, F785 (Poem 13), an initially flawed text but objective truism, with F784 (Poem 12), a “Mulling Suicide” poem that seems a painful cry for help.
Perhaps she’s reminding herself of where she’s been (sidetracked by infatuation, “Plated Wares”) and where she wants to go (poetic immortality). It’s inconceivable to me she composed these two poems contemporaneously, despite their copied juxtaposition in Fascicle 37 and identical estimated copy dates (“about late 1863”).
Adam, In your explication above, you ask:
“Could “mound” be a slant allusion to pregnancy? Has the narrator, the dead living woman, somehow hindered a pregnancy, or had her pregnancy hindered?”
Emily Dickinson herself answered your question in the two variants of F295: Variant A is a prayer to Christ, and Variant B is a prayer to God the Father:
295A.1862. Savior! I’ve no one else to tell –
Savior! I’ve no one else to tell –
And so I trouble thee.
I am the one forgot thee so –
Dost thou remember me?
Nor, for myself, I came so far –
That were the little load –
I brought thee the imperial Heart
I had not strength to hold –
The Heart I carried in my own –
Till mine too heavy grew –
Yet – strangest – heavier since it went –
Is it too large for you?
I think F295A is ED’s confession that her pregnancy [mound] miscarried, and she’s asking Christ to accept her baby into Heaven, even if she is not accepted.
295B.1862. Father – I bring thee – not myself –
Father – I bring thee – not myself –
That were the little load
I bring thee the departed Heart
I had not strength to hold
The Heart I cherished in my own
Till mine – too heavy grew –
Yet – strangest – heavier – since it went –
Is it too large for you?
I think Variant B is also a prayer, this one to God the Father, to accept her dead baby into Heaven.