891.1864. I learned—at least—what Home could be—

I learned—at least—what Home could be—
How ignorant I had been
Of pretty ways of Covenant—
How awkward at the Hymn

Round our new Fireside—but for this—
This pattern—of the Way—
Whose Memory drowns me, like the Dip
Of a Celestial Sea—

What Mornings in our Garden—guessed—
What Bees—for us—to hum—
With only Birds to interrupt
The Ripple of our Theme—

And Task for Both—
When Play be done—
Your Problem—of the Brain—
And mine—some foolisher effect—
A Ruffle—or a Tune—

The Afternoons—Together spent—
And Twilight—in the Lanes—
Some ministry to poorer lives—
Seen poorest—thro’ our gains—

And then Return—and Night—and Home—

And then away to You to pass—
A new—diviner—care—
Till Sunrise take us back to Scene—
Transmuted—Vivider—

This seems a Home—
And Home is not—
But what that Place could be—
Afflicts me—as a Setting Sun—
Where Dawn—knows how to be—
………………………………………………………………………………..

My interpretation of F891:

STANZA 1 – plants two religious seeds: “Covenant” and “Hymn”, the setting for this poem.

“A covenant is a relational, loyalty-based pledge that binds the parties themselves and is based on trust.” Think marriage vows. A covenant differs from a contract, which is a transactional relationship; each party needs something the other has and those needs are met by the transaction. Interpersonal trust isn’t necessarily necessary.

“A hymn is a religious song written for the purpose of adoration, prayer, or praise, typically addressed to a deity, gods, or a sacred figure.” ED felt awkward singing hymns until she experienced a “Covenant” with “You” [Line 22].

STANZA 2 – tells us the time and power of ED’S experience.

“How awkward at the Hymn // Round our new Fireside – but for this – / This pattern – of the way -”. ED’s new “Covenant” allows her to sing “Hymns // Round our new Fireside” – unawkwardly.

“Whose Memory drowns me, like the Dip / Of a Celestial Sea –” lets us know that ED is writing from “Memory”, after the experience, and that the experience felt heavenly, like drowning in the Milky Way.

STANZA 3 – informs us that ED is guessing “What Mornings in our Garden” would be like: “What Bees – for us – to hum – / With only Birds to interrupt”. ED knows she “guessed “ this experience.

STANZA 4 – ED imagines what tasks her partner and she would do after their morning “Play be done”. Her partner would solve a “Problem – of the Brain – / And mine – some foolisher effect -”

STANZA 5 – reveals that the couple’s “Afternoons – together spent – / And Twilight – in the Lanes –”. And, important biographically, they give “Some ministry to poorer lives”, compelling evidence that ED’s partner is a minister.

STANZA 6 – segues “And then Return – and Night – and Home -”.

STANZA 7 – modestly lets us know their sex life was wonderful: “And then away to You to pass – / A new – diviner – Care – / Till Sunrise take us back to Scene -”

STANZA 8 – ED explains that her poem is the life she wished she had had if only she had been “Empress of Calvary” (F194, ‘Title divine is mine’) or the “Queen of Calvary” (F347, ‘I dreaded that first Robin, so’). “Calvary” was the code name of Charles Wadsworth.

But ED is not crazy; she knows she is not Mrs. Charles Wadsworth. Her life is what it is, at Homestead, with her sister and parents:

“This seems a Home – And Home is not –
But what that Place could be –
Afflicts me – as a Setting Sun –
Where Dawn – knows how to be –”

This poem made me cry – my home was like ED’s, except we weren’t rich.

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.