ED-LarryB

848.1864.Who Giants know, with lesser Men

Who Giants know, with lesser Men
Are incomplete, and shy—
For Greatness, that is ill at ease
In minor Company—

A Smaller, could not be perturbed—
The Summer Gnat displays—
Unconscious that his single Fleet
Do not comprise the skies— ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

ED suggested two alternate phrases, {in curly brackets}:

Line 3: “For Greatness, that is ill at ease” {“ill composed}”

I prefer ED’s original phrase because it’s familiar and easy to understand;

 

Line 4: “In minor Company” {“With other quality}”

I prefer ED’s original phrase because it exemplifies ED’s judgmental trait, pejorative but honest. “With other quality“ is vague, even by ED’s standards.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

My prose biographical interpretation of F848:

Who Giants know, with lesser Men
Are incomplete, and shy—
For Greatness, that is ill at ease
In minor Company—

S1

If you know a genius, you will find them unsocialized and shy. Geniuses feel uncomfortable when associating with less gifted souls.

 

Stanza 2

A Smaller, could not be perturbed—
The Summer Gnat displays—
Unconscious that his single Fleet
Do not comprise the skies—

S2

A person who is average would not be uncomfortable in the presence of genius because they would have no comprehension of how far beyond average thinking that genius goes. An average person thinks their little-town universe is all there is in life.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

ED is speaking of what she knows. Her sister, Vinnie, said Emily” had to think – she was the only one of us who had that to do. Father believed; and mother loved; and Austin had Amherst; and I had the family to take care of.” (Bingham 1967).

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Reference

Bingham, M T. 1967. Emily Dickinson’s home: The early years as revealed in family correspondence and reminiscences.  Pp. 413-414.

847.1864.Her final Summer was it—

Her final Summer was it—
And yet We guessed it not—
If tenderer industriousness
Pervaded Her, We thought

A further force of life
Developed from within—
When Death lit all the shortness up
It made the hurry plain—

We wondered at our blindness
When nothing was to see
But Her Carrara Guide post—
At Our Stupidity—

When duller than our dullness
The Busy Darling lay
So busy was she—finishing—
So leisurely—were We—
………………………………………………………………….

ED suggested one alternate line, three alternate words, and one alternate phrase. I prefer:

L2. Alternate line, “Yet we suspected not”, because the original Line 2, “And yet We guessed it not,” began with “And”, which feels weak, while “Yet” sounds strong, signifies time, and implies “however”

L5. Alternate word, “Fund” , over the original word “Force” because fund implies an amount of something, in this case time, and it’s running out.

L4 and L5 enjamb Stanzas 1 and 2:

“We thought / A further Fund of Life”

L7. Alternate word “limit” over original “shortness” because the woman’s “Fund” of life [Line 5] is limited [Line 7].

L7 Alternate word, “brevity” in place of the phrase “shortness up” because it’s one word in place of the clunky phrase.

I use these preferences {in curly brackets} in my stanza by stanza interpretation of the poem:

Stanza 1

Her final Summer was it—
{Yet we suspected not}
If tenderer industriousness
Pervaded Her, {We thought

S1.

During summer, she knew she was dying but didn’t tell us. She seemed more industrious than usual putting her affairs in order. We thought

Stanza 2

A further} {Fund} of life
Developed from within—
When Death lit all the {brevity}
It made the hurry plain—

S2

she had found a fund of life deep inside her, so we were surprised when she visibly began to die. That explained why she had been hurrying.

 

Stanza 3

We wondered at our blindness
When nothing was to see
But Her Carrara Guide post—
At Our Stupidity—

S3

We wondered at our blindness, but she showed us nothing that would make us suspect her death was near. Her face was calm as Carrara marble. We can’t believe we were so blind to the truth.

 

Stanza 4

When duller than our dullness
The Busy Darling lay
So busy was she—finishing—
So leisurely—were We—

S4

Even when she began to fade we could not believe the end was near. We took our time when she asked for help and now regret our leisureness. On her deathbed she finished her final legal documents and gave instructions for her funeral.
……………………………………………………………………………………….

845.1864.We can but follow to the Sun—

We can but follow to the Sun—
As oft as He go down
He leave Ourselves a Sphere behind—
‘Tis mostly—following—

We go no further with the Dust
Than to the Earthen Door—
And then the Panels are reversed—
And we behold—no more.
………………………………………………………………………………

 

ED suggested no alternates for this poem

………………………………………………………………………………

My prose interpretation of ‘We can but follow to the Sun —’ (F845, 1864):

Stanza 1

 

All our lives we only follow the Sun. As often as He sets, we sleep, Earth turns, Sun rises, and we wake.

Stanza 2

“Dust to dust” circumscribes our lives, and then our curtain falls. Earth swallows us, night reigns, and we behold no more.
………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Excerpt from letter to Higginson (JL503, June 1877):

“When a few years old – I was taken to a Funeral which I now know was of peculiar distress, and the Clergyman asked “Is the Arm of the Lord shortened that it cannot save?

He italicized the ‘cannot.’ I mistook the accent for a doubt of Immortality and not daring to ask, it besets me still.”
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In 1882, ED revisited F845’s gist with ‘Those – dying then’ (F1581):

Those – dying then,
Knew where they went –
They went to God’s Right Hand –
That Hand is amputated now
And God cannot be found –

The abdication of Belief
Makes the Behavior small –
Better an ignis fatuus
Than no illume at all –
…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Definition: ignis fatuus (noun):

1. a light that sometimes appears in the night over marshy ground and is often attributable to the combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter

2. a deceptive goal or hope

“Ignis fatuus” is a Latin term meaning, literally, “foolish fire.”

Other names for this light are “jack-o’-lantern” and “will-o’-the-wisp” — both of which are connected to folklore about mysterious men, Jack and Will, who carry a lantern or a wisp of light at night.

Etymology:

Medieval Latin, literally, foolish fire
First Known Use was in 1563, in Sense 1 (above).

Synonyms: pipe dream, mirage, chimera, delusion, daydream, illusion

(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ignis%20fatuus)

 

843.1864. It bloomed and dropt, a Single Noon—

It bloomed and dropt, a Single Noon—
The Flower—distinct and Red—
I, passing, thought another Noon
Another in its stead

Will equal glow, and thought no More
But came another Day
To find the Species disappeared—
The Same Locality—

The Sun in place—no other fraud
On Nature’s perfect Sum—
Had I but lingered Yesterday—
Was my retrieveless blame—

Much Flowers of this and further Zones
Have perished in my Hands
For seeking its Resemblance—
But unapproached it stands—

The single Flower of the Earth
That I, in passing by
Unconscious was—Great Nature’s Face
Passed infinite by Me—

Much Flowers of this and further Zones
Have perished in my Hands
For seeking its Resemblance—
But unapproached it stands—

My biographical interpretation of ‘It bloomed and dropt, a Single Noon —’, with ED’s enjamb of Lines 4-5 noted {curly brackets}:

Stanza 1.

It bloomed and dropt, a Single Noon —
The Flower — distinct and Red —
I, passing, thought another Noon
Another in its stead [enjambed with L5]

S1.

My day-lily bloomed early this morning and lasted til noon, but its half-day reminded me of a half-day four years ago when Reverend Charles Wadsworth rang at noon at my front door. Unlike my day-lily, whose life began early and ended at noon, Wadsworth’s visit began at noon and ended after dark.

 

Stanza 2

Will equal glow. and thought no More
But came another Day
To find the Species disappeared —
The Same Locality —

S2.

I thought he would come again, and then I thought no more. But I was wrong, he never returned.

 

Stanza 3.

The Sun in place — no other fraud
On Nature’s perfect Sum—
Had I but lingered Yesterday —
Was my retrieveless blame —

S3.

Summer sunlight warmed the Earth; no cloud dimmed the sky. Looking back, I realize that half-day was the peak of my life. If I had only stopped the clock, I might have lived that time again. But I could not, and that was my own fault.

 

Stanza 4.

Much Flowers of this and further Zones
Have perished in my Hands
For seeking its {Similitude} —
But unapproached it stands —

S4.

I’ve tried desperately to find another soul like Wadsworth’s, but each one I find falls short, and I, one by one, lay them in my ebony box and close the lid.

 

Stanza 5.

The single Flower of the Earth
That I, in passing by
Unconscious was — Great Nature’s Face
Passed infinite by Me —

S5.

The one thing on Earth I wanted, I had that day, but never since. I was not aware then that I had found, and lost, the love of my life.

 

Stanza 6.

“Much Flowers of this and further Zones
Have perished in my Hands
For seeking its Resemblance—
But unapproached it stands—”

S6.

I’ve searched and searched for another love like the love Wadsworth and I experienced before that day. Many times I thought I had found it, but I eventually put them in my Ebon Box and closed the lid. There will never be another.
………………………………………………………………………………….

ED’s alternate words and phrases [Lines L10, L15, L19, L20] are in {curly brackets}:

Line 10.

On Nature’s perfect {general} Sum —

L10.

I prefer ED’s original word, “perfect” because it begins with a powerful “p”; “general” sounds wishy-washy.

 

Line 15.

For seeking its Resemblance {Similitude}—

L15.

I prefer ED’s alternate word , “similitude”, because it alliterates with “seeking”.

 

Line 19.

For seeking its Resemblance {Was ignorant that Nature closed}

L19.

I prefer her original Line 19 because it tells us what ED did. Her alternate line only tells us what she thought.

 

Line 20A.

But unapproached it stands— {My Opportunity}

L20A.

Stanza 5 with ED’s alternate Line 20A reads:

Much Flowers of this and further Zones
Have perished in my Hands
For seeking its Resemblance—
{My 0pportunity}

I don’t like “My Opportunity” because ED is blaming herself for not hearing anything from Wadsworth after their tryst in 1860, but that relationship did not “perish in my Hands”.

 

Line 20B.

In the context of the full Stanza 5, I prefer ED’s original “Passed” because “Went” weakens the finality of her one and only tryst with Wadsworth:
………………………………………………………………………………

In summer 1880, Wadsworth did return to Homestead, and, as evidence of ED’s enduring love for him, here is the 1879 “Calvary” poem (F1485) that affirms her concern for him in a sweet quatrain.

“Spurn the temerity —
Rashness of Calvary —
Gay were Gethsemane
Knew we of Thee —”

“Calvary” and “Gethsemane” are ED’s code names for Wadsworth and herself. She had to be careful in her poems to protect Wadsworth’s reputation and her own privacy. ‘Spurn the temerity —’ (F1485, 1879) is the 12th and last of her “Calvary” poems.

It would not surprise me if ED mailed F1485 to Wadsworth in 1879, though we have no hard evidence that happened because both she and he burned all their mutual letters. The following summer, 1880, he showed up unannounced at her front door:

“Where did you come from,” I said, for he spoke like an Apparition. “I stepped from my Pulpit to 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.”

Letter JL1040 to Charles Clark, April 15, 1886, exactly one month before she died.

The ED-Wadsworth “love affair” was likely a marriage of two disparate minds who agreed to disagree, both deeply spiritual, one an eloquent conservative Christian minister, the other a world-class agnostic poet. ED’s last letter to Charles Clarke implies she and Wadsworth died close friends, in 1886 and 1882, respectively.

ED’s letter (JL1040) tells us Wadsworth gave a sermon at the Clarks’ church and then took the 12-mile train trip to Amherst that afternoon to visit her. His answer to her question, “Twenty Years” was a reference to his previous visit with her in Amherst in summer 1860. ED’s phrase, “inscrutable roguery”, tells me how much ED loved Wadsworth — he was the love of her life.
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ED’S lifelong theme of friends lost to death or moving away runs strong in her letters and poems. At age 14, much too young, she experienced the death of a close friend. She was in an adjoining room when the girl died and she begged the girl’s mother to let her say goodbye one last time.  Unwisely, the mother relented. ED suffered severe fear-of-abandonment anxiety for the rest of her life.
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ED’s “Ebon Box”:

ED used closing the lid of her “Ebon Box” as a metaphor for losing friends, either to death or, more commonly, to alienation. At the end of her life she had no close long-term friends, probably because she had demanded too much of them. (Sewall, R. B, 1974. The Life of Emily Dickinson)

“Historical records indicate that Emily Dickinson’s famous ebony box was gifted to her by George Henry Gould, a close friend and confidant she met while they were both young adults in Amherst.” (Google AI Overview, downloaded 6/15/2026)

This black scarred box is the one Harvard eventually acquired in 1950. From the photo, its dimensions appear to be about 12”x12”x18”:

https://iraf.substack.com/p/dickinson-stops-the-clocks#:~:text=Dickinson%20Stops%20the,it%20was%20%E2%80%9Calive.%E2%80%9D

“It became a personal repository where she quietly stored her private correspondence and hand-sewn packets of poems. After Dickinson died in 1886, her sister Lavinia inherited the chest and discovered the massive cache of nearly 1,800 poems inside, eventually leading to their publication.” (Google AI Overview, downloaded 6/15/2026)

For a fuller explanation of its circuitous journey before it was given to Harvard, see: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLaMDv_tx3-/

JL189. To John Long Graves, August 1856

“Ah John – Gone? Then I lift the lid to my box of Phantoms, and lay another in, unto the Resurrection – Then will I gather in Paradise, the blossoms fallen here, and on the shores of the sea of Light, seek my missing sands.

Your Coz – Emilie –”

Miller, Cristanne. and Domhnall Mitchell (eds). The Letters of Emily Dickinson (p. 267). Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition

“Emily Dickinson was not referring to the physical death of John Long Graves. Instead, the “event” was his permanent departure from Amherst when he moved away to become the principal of Orford Academy in New Hampshire. This physical separation prompted Dickinson to express deep melancholy, likening her absent friends to memories or “phantoms” in her emotional memory box” (Google AI, downloaded 6/4/2026)

The top of the box reads “EMILY E. AND LAVINIA N. DICKINSON”
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842.1864.Patience—has a quiet Outer—

Patience—has a quiet Outer—
Patience—Look within—
Is an Insect’s futile forces
Infinites—between—

‘Scaping one—against the other
Fruitlesser to fling—
Patience—is the Smile’s exertion
Through the quivering—
……………………………………………………………………………..

ED lists two alternate words in Line 7 and two alternates, Lines 7-8 {in curly brackets}. I prefer ED’s original words and phrase.

My biographical interpretation of ‘Patience—has a quiet Outer—’:

S1

My family sees my outward quiet appearance, but that is superficial. If they could look within, they would see a futile struggle between infinite forces.

S2

If I escape the pain of living life, the pain of separation from Him descends, ripping open my healing wound. He told me we would meet and marry in Heaven, so I force a smile, though my lips are quivering.
………………………………………………………………………………………………..

ED lists two alternate words in Line 7 and two alternates, Lines 7-8 {in curly brackets}. I prefer ED’s original words and phrase:

Line 7:

Patience—is the Smile’s {Mouth’s; Love’s} exertion

Lines 7- 8:

Smile’s exertion {Mean of forces} —
Through the quivering {Stand by Her Wing}
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

In Master Letter 1 (JL187, draft, spring 1858), ED invited Reverend Wadsworth to visit her in Amherst:

“Listen again, Master. I did not tell you that today had been the Sabbath Day.

“Each Sabbath on the Sea, makes me count the Sabbaths, till we meet on shore ¬¬─ and (will the) whether the hills will look as blue as the sailors say. I cannot talk any more (stay any longer) tonight (now), for this pain denies me.

“How strong when weak to recollect, and easy, quite, to love. Will you tell me, please to tell me, soon as you are well.”

ED knew that Wadsworth was nationally known for his powerful, pew-filling sermons and probably did not expect him to come. Wadsworth probably knew from ED’s previous letters that she had heard him deliver a sermon in March 1855 and probably guessed, correctly, that his deep bass voice and oratorical skills had stolen her heart.

Wadsworth was the love of ED’s life. He probably knew how she felt because her feelings were obvious in her Master Letter Drafts ML1 (JL187, Spring 1858), ML2 (JL248, early 1861), and ML3 (JL233, Summer 1861).

ED’s poems honor Wadsworth by capitalizing all his pronouns, just as she capitalized God’s. In fact, ED seems to think of Wadsworth as God’s doppelgänger.

“Fruitlesser” (Line 6) is an ED original, a humdinger comparative adjective.