All Poems

Franklin’s (1998) punctuation and ED’s alternate words in parentheses:

The Spirit is the Conscious Ear —
We actually Hear
When We inspect—that’s audible—
That is admitted—Here—

For other Services (purposes)—as Sound —
There hangs a smaller (minor) Ear
Outside the Castle (Centre, City) —that Contain (Present)—
The other —only—Hear—

Here’s my interpretation, using ED’s alternate words when they help and my clarifications in brackets. Lines 1-3 are enjambed into a single sentence, and Line 4 is a single sentence. Lines 5-7 are also enjambed into a single sentence, and Line 8 is a closing sentence.

The Spirit is the Conscious Ear
We actually Hear
When We inspect [what’s] audible— [in our soul].
That [song] is admitted—Here—[in the Conscious Ear].

For other Purposes—such as Sound [physical sounds such as bird songs]—
There hangs a minor Ear, [the physical ear]
Outside the Castle [of our soul, which] Contain[s] the [Conscious Ear].
The other [the minor ear] only Hear[s] [physical sounds].

In a footnote to this poem, Christine Miller (2016, ‘Emily Dickinson’s Poems’) refers readers to ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ (John Keats, 1819, Stanza 2):

“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone”

Given ED’s interest in “the spirit ditties of no tone”, that is, mystical experiences, her “Conscious Ear” is the one that hears God speaking, the “Ear” Saul used to listen to God on the road to Damascus (KJV, Acts 9:3-5):

3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. . .”

It would be hard for any poet, including ED, to improve on Keats. To me, ED’s “Ear” / “Hear” / “Here” // “Ear” / “Hear” sound clunky compared to Keats’ “Heard”, “unheard” // “ear”, “endear’d”.

The Heaven vests for Each
In that small Deity
It craved the grace to worship
Some bashful Summer’s Day –

Half shrinking from the Glory
It importuned to see
Till these faint Tabernacles drop
In full Eternity –

How imminent the Venture –
As One should sue a Star –
For His mean sake to leave the Row
And entertain Despair –

A Clemency so common –
We almost cease to fear –
Enabling the minutest –
And furthest – to adore –

As ED was often wont to do, ‘The Heaven vests for Each’ (F717, Line 3, late 1863) serves us a disguised pronoun, “it”. Normally, “it” refers to something inanimate, like Heaven, or non-human, like a dog, but not in this poem. ED was a private person, and in this poem she used the neuter gender because the poem is about her.

“It” refers to “Each” (in this poem, ED) and for her, “that small Deity” was Charles Wadsworth (CW). ED recalls the “Glory” she felt on a “bashful Summer’s Day”, which she immortalized in ‘There came a Day—at Summer’s full’ (F325, 1862). On that day, she and CW exchanged crucifixes and pledged (Stanza 7):

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

An interpretation of ‘The Heaven vests for Each’, in poem-prose [brackets mine]:

Stanza 1 – “Some bashful Summer’s Day” / “Heaven vests [invests] for Each [woman; ED] / In that small Deity” [man; CW] / It [she; ED] craved the grace to worship”.

Stanza 2 – “Half shrinking from the Glory [CW] / It [ED] importuned [begged] to see / Till [When] these faint Tabernacles [frail bodies] drop / In full Eternity [Heaven]”.

Stanza 3 – “How imminent [soon] the Venture [Death] / As [if] One should sue [ask] a Star [CW] / For His mean sake to leave the Row [of Stars] / And entertain Despair [like ED’s]”

Stanza 4 – “A Clemency [forgiveness] so common / We [humans; ED] almost cease to fear / Enabling the minutest / And furthest [of us; ED] – to adore [our lover; CW]”

The “Row” of “Stars” in Lines 10-11 may refer to Stanza 1 of ‘I lost a World – the other day!’, F209 (1861) [brackets mine] and perhaps originally to Revelation 12:1-5, ED’s favorite Book in the Bible:

“I lost a World [CW] – the other day!
Has Anybody found?
You’ll know it [Him] by the Row of Stars
Around its [His] forehead bound.”

Revelation 12:1-5:

1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

The “woman clothed with the sun” and “crown of stars” was traditionally believed to be the Virgin Mary
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_of_the_Apocalypse), but in ED’s current missing-him mood, the “Crown of Stars” is Charles Wadsworth.

Shells from the Coast mistaking—
I cherished them for All—
Happening in After Ages
To entertain a Pearl—

Wherefore so late—I murmured—
My need of Thee—be done—
Therefore—the Pearl responded—
My Period begin

The word “pearl” occurs 29 times in ED’s 1789 poems, mostly as a metaphor for cherished things: friendship, love of all kinds, Susan Gilbert Dickinson (Sue), Charles Wadsworth (CW), a particular poem, poetry in general. The word “pearl” first appears in F16 (1858), ’The feet of people walking home’ and last in F1012 (1865), ‘Best Things dwell out of Sight’.

 

Oddly, the word “pearl” doesn’t occur in any of the 777 poems written during the last 20 years of her life, 1866 – 1886.

ED tried twice to establish permanent relationships with lovers, but both attempts failed because of impossible impediments, financial security for Sue and solid long-standing marriage/family ties for CW. By 1863, ED had abandoned dreams of lifelong stability from loving relationships and, instead, committed her life to poetry, the pearl she knew she could trust for the duration.

In this poem “wherefore” probably means “for what reason”. The word dates from before 1200 AD and is now rarely used (OED).

An interpretation of ‘Shells from the Coast mistaking’ (F716):

Stanza 1:

When I was young, I thought all shells from the coast were pearls
When I grew older, I still cherished shells
Because they reminded me of Pearls
I have loved [Sue and CW].

Stanza 2:

Why has it taken me so long – I murmured –
Before my need of Thee [CW] – be done? –
Therefore – the Pearl [Poetry] responded –
My Time begin[s]

What a life-affirming last line.

The Robin for the Crumb
Returns no syllable
But long records the Lady’s name
In Silver Chronicle.

The Robin’s “Silver Chronical” will “long record the Lady’s name”, just as ED’s poem will immortalize her Aunt Lucretia (M&ML432, JL633). Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 said it best:

“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee”

Good to have had them lost
For news that they be saved!
The nearer they departed Us
The nearer they, restored,

Shall stand to Our Right Hand—
Most precious— are the Dead—
Next precious, those that rose to go
Then thought of Us, and stayed—

ED was not a religious person in the traditional, stand-at-the-right-hand-of-God ilk. I think this poem is unlikely to be about religion or a love relationship. But one thing we do know for certain is that ED was composing during the bloody last year of the Civil War. She had known men in her early social circle who had been killed:

“[They] Shall stand to Our Right Hand—
Most precious— are the Dead—”

We also can be certain that in the confusion of newspaper lists, a few of her friends likely were reported dead when in fact they were badly wounded but not killed:

“Next precious, those that rose to go [almost died]
Then thought of Us, and stayed—”

I think this poem is about them.

The lovely flowers embarrass me,
They make me regret I am not a Bee –

Text of Letter M&ML422, JL1042 to Lucretia Gunn Bullard, ED’s aunt, about late spring 1864, Cambridge, MA:

“The lovely flowers embarrass me,
They make me regret I am not a Bee –

Was it my blame or Nature’s?

Thank you, dear Aunt, for the thoughtfulness, I shall slowly forget – The beautiful Plant would entice me, did I obey myself, but the Doctor is rigid –

Will you believe me grateful,

Truly,

Emily

Given ED’s disinclination for visiting, she’s got a good excuse. I agree with Johnson (1958), the poem is a poet’s polite RSVP for a medical reason

Cristanne Miller and Domhnall Mitchell, 2024, The Letters of Emily Dickinson, Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.

807.1864.Away from Home are some and I —

Away from Home are some and I —
An Emigrant to be
In a Metropolis of Homes
Is easy, possibly —

The Habit of a Foreign Sky
We — difficult — acquire
As Children, who remain in Face
The more their Feet retire.

My interpretation of  Fr807:

2. Away from home are some and I; to be an emigrant in a large city of homes is easy, possibly.
3. The habit of a foreign sky we difficult acquire, as children who remain home in heart the more their faces leave home.

 

A biographical interpretation makes the meaning of this poem clear; I think ED intended Line 1 to be read literally, “Away from Home are some and I —”:

1. During late April to November 21 in 1864, ED lived with her cousins in Cambridge where she could get treatments by the best ophthalmologist in Boston. She was an “Emigrant” because she left her home in Amherst by train bound for Boston, which was a “Metropolis of Homes” compared to Amherst. The train ride was “easy”, but she’s uneasy about what lies ahead, hence the stanza-closing “possibly —”
2. Getting used to the “Foreign Sky” of Cambridge and Boston wasn’t easy for ED, a small-town girl who liked her home on Amherst’s Main Street. She felt like a child whose “face” was physically in an unfamiliar place where she was supposed to be, but her heart and brain remained in her second-floor bedroom at Homestead writing poetry, or at least trying to. (Habegger 2001)

She used the word “Emigrant” because her travel experience helped her empathize better with the Irish immigrants in Amherst who had arrived in a strange new land under a “Foreign Sky”.

During ED’s months of treatment she apparently composed some poems. However, she was under strict orders not to use her eyes, so she may have dictated new poems to her cousins, Louisa and Francis Norcross. That may explain some of the upcoming short poems.

Habegger, Alfred. 2001. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.