766.1863.No bobolink reverse his singing

766.1863.No bobolink reverse his singing

No Bobolink – reverse His Singing
When the only Tree
Ever He minded occupying
By the Farmer be –

Clove to the Root –
His Spacious Future –
Best Horizon – gone –
Brave Bobolink –
Whose Music be His
Only Anodyne –

ED’s second letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, L338, dated April 28, 1862, included this sentence:

“Mr Higginson, . . . 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 –. . . . ”

For ED, 1861-1863 were traumatic but extremely productive years. She “sang” 698 poems, 39% of her total oeuvre of 1789 poems from 1850-1886. If we believe her darkest poetry, composing may have saved her from mental collapse or worse. In that context, I interpret “Brave Bobolink”:

No poet – reverse her Singing
When the only heart
She ever wanted to occupy
By its Owner be
Closed to the Root

Her Spacious Future,
Her best Horizon – gone
Her Song Her
Only Anodyne –
Brave Bobolink

The logical syntax for this poem is two cinquains, as in my interpretation, but ED clearly split the manuscript into a quatrain and a sestet. Careless or intentional? Who knows?

The manuscript that ED stitched into Fascicle 34 has “Brave Bobolink” as the last line (Line 10), which is how Johnson (1955) published it. That sharp B-B alliteration closes the poem nicely. As an alternative, ED suggested “Brave Bobolink” be Line 8 and “Only Anodyne” Line 10.

Why did Franklin (1999), contrary his usual protocol of omitting alternative words, publish ED’s alternative line arrangement in Stanza 2? And why did he ignore the illogical syntax of stanza structure by leaving Line 5, “Clove to the Root”, in Stanza 2?

765.1863.The Sunrise runs for Both

765.1863.The Sunrise runs for Both

The Sunrise runs for Both –
The East – Her Purple Troth
Keeps with the Hill –
The Noon unwinds Her Blue
Till One Breadth cover Two –
Remotest – still –

Nor does the Night forget
A Lamp for Each – to set –
Wicks wide away –
The North – Her blazing Sign
Erects in Iodine –
Till Both – can see –

The Midnight’s Dusky Arms
Clasp Hemispheres, and Homes
And so
Upon Her Bosom – One –
And One upon Her Hem –
Both lie –

 

Franklin dates ED’s fascicle copy of ‘The Sunrise runs for Both’ (F765) “about late 1863”. On December 21, 1863, sunrise in Amherst was 7:16 AM (night’s “Hem”), but 7:16 AM in Amherst was 4:16 AM in San Francisco (night’s bosom).

When ED obsessed over Wadsworth, she wished she could share what he was doing each moment, so she adjusted for the three-hour time difference. When she was waking up in Amherst, in San Francisco Wadsworth would have been snoring on night’s “Bosom”:

“And so
Upon Her Bosom – One –
And One upon Her Hem –
Both lie -”

“Her” refers to “Night” in Stanza 3, but no doubt ED wished it referred to “Her Bosom”.

PS. Thank you, David Preest, wherever you are, for the time-zone clue.

When ED composed this poem in 1863, there were 300 different local times in the US, each based on Local Meridian Time (LMT) for a nearby city. Noon was when the Sun was directly over the local city , and nearby areas used that city’s LMT. That ancient scheme worked until railroad companies tried to print schedules for arrivals and departures. Finally, in 1883 the US adopted four times zones, each differing by one hour.

764.1863.My Life had stood — a Loaded Gun —

F764.1863.My Life had stood — a Loaded Gun —

ED’s alternate words in (parentheses), Franklin’s spelling corrections in <angle brackets>, LB’s comments in [brackets]

My Life had stood — a Loaded Gun —
In Corners — till a Day
The Owner passed — identified —
And carried Me away —

[In ‘My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun’ (F764, late 1863), ED was a “Loaded Gun” who “stood in Corners” waiting “till a Day” when her “Owner passed – identified – and carried Me away”.]

And now We roam in (the) Sovreign <Sovereign> Woods —
And now We hunt the Doe —
And every time I speak for Him —
The Mountains straight reply —

[In ED’s incredible imagination, she and her “Owner”, Charles Wadsworth, roam the world, making Mountains echo each time he pulls her trigger].

And do I smile, such cordial light
Opon <Upon> the Valley glow —
It is as [if] a Vesuvian face
Had let its pleasure through —

[And does she smile each time he pulls her trigger? You bet! Her Vesuvian face lights with pleasure that makes her “Valley glow”.]

And when at Night — Our good Day done —
I guard My Master’s Head —
‘Tis better than the Eider-Duck’s
Deep (low) Pillow — to have shared —

[And then at night, “Our” gunshots  “done”, I guard “My Master’s Head / ‘Tis better than” sharing a “Deep” eider-down pillow.]

To foe of His — I’m deadly foe —
None stir (harm) the second time —
On whom I lay a Yellow Eye —
Or an emphatic Thumb —

[To “His” foes – “I’m deadly foe –”. When I fire my poetic minie-balls, “None stir a second time –”.]

Though I than He — may longer live
He longer must — than I —
For I have but the power to kill,
Without — the power (art) to die —

[“He” may die before I do, but he must enter Heaven. My poems have power to kill on Earth, but, unless “He” intercedes, they have no power for resurrection into Heaven where we agreed to meet and marry.]

 

Talk about a capitalized “Swoon”!! (F194, 1861):

“Title divine, is mine.
The Wife without the Sign  –
Acute Degree conferred on me  –
Empress of Calvary  –
Royal, all but the Crown  –
Betrothed, without the Swoon
God gives us Women –”

763.1863.I had no time to Hate

763.1863.I had no time to Hate

I had no time to Hate –
Because
The Grave would hinder me –
And Life was not so
Ample I
Could finish – Enmity -;

Nor had I time to Love –
But since
Some Industry must be –
The little Toil of Love –
I thought
Be large enough for Me –

‘I had no time to Hate’ seems a strange poem. ED was 32, past her prime, prone to illness, and slim prospects of reaching three score and ten. The two human loves of her life had failed: intimacy with Sue was just a memory, and Wadsworth had moved to San Francisco.

Stanza 1 leaves us hopeful because she knew life was too short for hate or enmity. Suddenly, in Stanza 2, ED switched gears. She realized her feelings for Rev. Wadsworth were not real “Love”: “Nor had I time to Love -”. What she truly loves is poetry, her “little Toil of Love -”.

 

This poem, ‘763.1863.I had no time to Hate’, reminds me of Stanza 2, F602:

“When Choice of Life — is past —
There yet remains a Love
Its little Fate to stipulate —
How small in those who live —”

For ED, death happened twice, first on May 1, 1862, when Rev. Charles Wadsworth embarked from New York harbor, bound for San Francisco. ED tells us her “little Fate” 161 poems later:

F763, Stanza’s 1 & 2

“I had no time to Hate— //
Nor had I time to Love—
But since
Some Industry must be—
The little Toil of Love—
I thought
Be large enough for Me—”

ED’s “little Toil of Love”, her “little Fate”, was composing 1026 more poems before her second death, on May 15, 1886.

ED has convinced me that virtually all of her poems have two or more levels of meaning: poetic and historical. These levels cannot be separated into two ivory towers, as most academics do.

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.

Her refusal to publish was only possible because of the lifelong financial and daily social/housekeeping support of her family, especially her father and sister, respectively. 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 love of ED’s poems can be enriched by understanding both poetic and historical levels of her sound and sense. We impoverish ourselves if we ignore their historical foundations.

762.1863.Promise This – When You be Dying –

762.1863.Promise This – When You be Dying –

Franklin’s (1999) Reading Version.
ED’s alternate words (in parentheses).

Promise This – When You be Dying –
Some shall (Some one) summon Me –
Mine belong Your latest Sighing –
Mine – to Belt Your Eye –

Not with Coins – though they be Minted
From An Emperor’s Hand –
Be my lips – the only Buckle
Your low (meek -) Eyes – demand-

Mine to stay – when all have wandered –
To devise once more
If the Life be too surrendered –
Life of Mine – restore –

Poured like this – My Whole (best) Libation –
Just that You should see
Bliss of Death – Life’s Bliss extol thro’
Imitating You –

Mine – to guard Your Narrow Precinct –
To seduce (entice – • persuade) the Sun
Longest (Latest) on Your South, to linger,
Largest (newest – • freshest) Dews of Morn

To demand, in Your low favor –
Lest the Jealous Grass
Greener lean – Or fonder cluster (later linger)
Round some other face –

Mine to supplicate Madonna –
If Madonna be
Could behold (regard) so far (small – dim) a Creature –
Christ – omitted -Me –

 

EDLex defines Madonna as Mary, a “holy woman who serves as an intermediary between humanity and Jesus Christ.” The speaker isn’t sure if Madonna exists, but if she does,

“Could [she intercede for] so (small) a Creature –
[Because] Christ – omitted – Me [from Heaven] -”

 

Johnson (1955) had this to say about ED’s manuscript:

“Unless the suggested changes be entirely ignored the poem remains so unfinished that ED’s final intent is beyond editorial construction. All suggested changes are written at the end of the poem and occupy two-thirds of a page. They are not in sequence and it may be questioned whether the choices here editorially sorted out have been given their correct association in every instance.”

 

Preest (2014) offers this explication. [Brackets] mine:

“In poem [J]622 [F688] Emily had eagerly asked for details of some unnamed person’s deathbed. In this poem she asks her beloved to promise that he will have herself summoned to his deathbed as the chief mourner.

“She wants to be the one who hears his last sigh and closes his eyes, though with her lips and not with the coins put on the eyes of the dead.

“She wants to stay when all else have gone, to see if she can restore him to life.

“She would pour herself out in weeping for him, so that he would see her praising him by pouring out her life’s bliss for him, just as he had poured out his lifeblood in death’s bliss.”

ED’s presumptuous imperative, “Promise this – when you be dying [in San Francisco] / You’ll send someone – to summon me”, without hint of grief, sounds me-centered. Ignoring Wadsworth’s wife and family, ED wants to be there when death happens because Wadsworth’s “latest sighing” [death rattle?], belongs to “Me”, “Mine”, as does the right to close his eyes, not with coins, but with my kiss.

 

  • Franklin, R.W. 1999. The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition, Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.
  • Preest, David. 2014. ‘Emily Dickinson: Notes on All Her Poems’. 672 pp. [For Preest’s entire PDF of 1775 commentaries (Johnson 1955) free of charge, go to:
    https://studylib.net/download/8773657
    Click “Not a Robot”, and download PDF.
  • Dickinson, Emily. Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them . Harvard University Press.
  • Johnson, T.H., ed., 1955 The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Little, Brown and Co.

761.1863.So much Summer

761.1863.So much Summer
ED’s alternate words (in parentheses)

So much Summer
Me for showing
Illegitimate –
Would a Smile’s minute bestowing
Too exorbitant (extravagant – • importunate -)

To the Lady
With the Guinea(s)
Look – if she should know
Crumb of Mine
A Robin’s Larder
Would (Could) suffice to stow –

To my knowledge, no one except David Preest has quoted from or commented on this poem. He was baffled: “The syntactical structure of this poem is not immediately obvious”. ED’s 37-word riddle reminds me of Molly Bloom’s 24,000-word monologue ending Ulysses, except Molly was less obscure. There’s nothing left to do but crawl out on a thin limb and hope.

ED had begged Sue for a smile before, in F735, ‘The Moon was but a Chin of Gold’:

“Her Lips of Amber never part –
But what must be the smile
Upon Her Friend she could confer
Were such Her silver will –“

In Lines 4-7 of ‘So much Summer’, ED again begs Sue for a small smile: “Would a Smile’s minute bestowing / Too exorbitant [be] // To the Lady / With the Guinea(s)”? That “minute” smile would be a “Crumb of Mine / A Robin’s Larder / Would suffice to stow”. ED referred to Sue as a “Robin” in ‘I have a Bird in spring’ [F4, 1854, Line 6].

If ‘So much Summer’ is about Sue, then what are we to make of Lines 1-3, and how are they connected to ED’s plea for a sympathetic smile? These opening lines, taken literally, are about “Me”, the poet, ED, who apparently is “showing / illegitimate” in her “Summer” frock and begging Sue for a “minute smile”. Occam’s Razor fails sometimes, but in the absence of compelling alternatives, these lines provide circumstantial evidence supporting Shurr’s 1983 hypothesis of ED’s pregnancy [Comment 1, F745, ‘Sweet Mountains’, TPB].

Mabel Todd wrote in her diary that Austin had told her that during the early years of their marriage, before Ned’s birth in June 1861, Sue had had three or four pregnancies “artificially terminated” [Longsworth 1984]. If so, this shocking poem may be ED’s plea, not just for Sue’s sympathy, but for her empathy as well. And, if so, two questions: Why did ED leave such damning words in a poem, and why did Austin’s scissors spare this poem when he censored ED’s manuscripts after her death?

ed-larryb.com/2024/12/761-1863-so-much-summer

PS1.    Preest’s “explication” makes no sense to me:

Poem F761, ‘So much Summer’, Explication by David Preest

“The syntactical structure of this poem is not immediately obvious, but perhaps Emily is saying, ‘In return for me showing the Lady with the Guinea so much illegitimate summer, would the very small bestowing of a smile seem too extravagant a reward from her to me, if I were to tell her that a very small crumb, no bigger than what would fit a robin’s larder, would be enough.’

“Emily does not say who the Lady with the Guinea was, but the illegitimacy of their summer together may show that she was married.”

 

PS2:     Adam DeGraff, Blogmeister of ‘The Prowling Bee’ (TPB), kindly reminded me that ED’s Poem F12, ‘I had a guinea golden’, shares two words with F721: “Robin” and “guinea”. I believe both poems are about Sue and Emily. In fact, F12’s last stanza tells us in plain camouflaged English (“ïts” = “her”):

“My story has a moral—
I have a missing friend—
“Pleiad” its name, and Robin,
And guinea in the sand.”

  • Longsworth, Polly. 1984. Austin and Mabel. University of Massachusetts Press.
  • Preest, David. 2014. ‘Emily Dickinson: Notes on All Her Poems’. 672 pp. [For Preest’s entire PDF of 1775 commentaries (Johnson 1955) free of charge, go to: https://studylib.net/download/8773657
    Click “Not a Robot”, and download PDF.]
  • Shurr, William H. 1983. The Marriage of Emily Dickinson. University of Kentucky Press, 230 pages; pp.170-188.

760.1863.Pain – has an Element of Blank –

760.1863.Pain – has an Element of Blank –
ED’s alteratives (in parentheses); LarryB’s comments in [brackets]

Pain – has an Element of Blank –
It cannot recollect
When it begun – Or if there were
A time (Day) when it was not –

It has no Future – but itself –
Its Infinite contain
It’s [Its] Past – enlightened to perceive
New Periods – Of Pain.

An interpretation:

Pain is like an Ocean Wave,
It can’t remember
When it began – or if there were
A time (Day) before its existence –

It has no Future – but itself –
Forever doing
What it has always done,
Perceive new waves – Of Pain.

As this poem implies, in 1863 ED was still stuck in a rut of recurring waves of emotional pain. Relief from Wadsworth’s abandonment seemed impossible, but, if time couldn’t completely heal her emotional wounds, it could at least “Perceive new waves – Of Pain”.

Apparently, by the late 1860s – early 1870s, ED’s feelings for Reverend Wadsworth had calmed, and they resumed correspondence. In summer 1880, Wadsworth made a surprise Sunday afternoon visit to Homestead. ED’s later poems and letters suggest they spent the afternoon in friendly chit-chat. He died in 1882.

Wadsworth’s 1880 visit occurred just as ED’s long friendship with Judge Otis Lord was blossoming into life-affirming romance. Wisely, 39-year-old ED declined Lord’s marriage proposal (L913, late 1880):

“To Otis Lord.

“Dont you know you are happiest while I withhold and not confer – dont you know that “No” is the wildest word we consign to Language? You do, for you know all things –”.

Their warm friendship and correspondence continued until his death in March 1884.

• Cristanne Miller and Domhnall Mitchell. 2024. The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Harvard University Press. P.358-359.