Esther LoPresto

 

Ackmann observes, “Everything she required for inspiration already was taking root in her mind. It was confidence, independence, and self-awareness that were growing in her—qualities that would sustain her for the rest of her life” (25). This week’s selection of poems revolves around the theme of identity. Dickinson is discussing how she thinks of herself as a person and as a poet, which are separate identities, and also how she believes other people see her. What resides inside her mind is far more important to her than what is on the outside.

 

“The Soul selects her own Society” evokes confidence in the choices the narrator has made. She knows who she is and is fine with that. No one can shake that identity from her. While on the other hand, “They shut me up in Prose” feels like confinement or punishment for being herself. It seems to say, “If only they could see what I can do!” Whether disapproval comes from someone close or from society as a whole, it can be discouraging and ignite this flame of spiteful confidence. The description in chapter one of young Emily leaving the church service early to write to her friend illustrates this. On pages 6-7, sitting at her writing desk is equated with a ritual. Dickinson’s own thoughts and her perception of herself is more important than what others think. She dislikes the confinement of expectations: “Emily did not want to live by anyone else’s rules” (46-47).

 

In the same vein, “Much Madness is divinest Sense” shows the double standard of society. If you go along with the norm, you’re accepted; if you’re different and question those norms, you’re dangerous. There’s definitely a lot of that going around these days, and it seems the 19th century was not exempt from this either. I found “Me from Myself to banish” interesting but a little odd at the same time. I think the narrator is describing two different aspects of herself that don’t seem to get along, yet one will not cede to the other. We’re allowed to be multifaceted; that’s what makes us unique. So, the idea of abandoning one aspect of personality to favor another just seems odd and not genuine. This is like Emily’s friend Abiah, and the day she appeared in class with dandelions in her hair. Ackman writes, “Emily was coming to understand how to make ideas visible” (18). Dickinson has achieved that in her poems. Abiah wore her uniqueness on the outside and young Emily admired such bravery to be true to oneself, writing to her “Don’t let your free spirit be chained” (21).

 

Whether or not Dickinson had a firm grasp on her identity, she certainly wasn’t shy about exploring and examining it, leading us as readers to consider similar thoughts. In Ackmann’s author’s note, she notes the dichotomy between Dickinson’s external and internal lives, “The poet moved through her days in ways some people would see as inactive… But… Dickinson did indeed have an active life, a life that was lived in her mind” (xix). Despite the fact that she mostly stayed at home sewing and writing, Dickinson’s mind was free to ponder the deep questions of life.

Chapter 2 dives into Emily’s realization that essentially, she would not trade “Amherst, her family, . . . the friends she had, the natural world she loved, or the verses that were beginning to thread through her mind” (47) for God, or religion, or eternal life. Growing up in a family and a place that embraced a religion rooted in the Puritan tradition, I can imagine that Emily’s realization on this subject was both rare in her community, and sometimes even met with dislike and contempt. I think poems #620 and #1263 explore this idea, as poem #620 says that if you go against the majority, “you’re straightaway dangerous - / and handled with a Chain -”. I think in poem #1263 the speaker contemplates society’s inability to accept ideas different than their own, as “the Truth must dazzle gradually / or every man be blind”, which essentially questions man’s power of the brain. Also, this chapter gives us the only glimpse of Emily being unsure of herself prior to making her decision on eternal life. This uncertainty is mirrored in poem #709, as the speaker contemplates banishing, assaulting, and abdicating themself.  

I think chapter 3 is the most important because this is where Emily realizes “she was the writer of the family” (70) in that she was talented and had a deep love for poetry; she also makes the private decision to never publish her work. Poems #445, $446, and #466 are all ars poetica in that they describe the speakers profound love for poetry. Poems #445 and #466 both start by dissing prose, as the speaker in #445 says “they shut me up in Prose” and in #466 calls a “house” of poetry a “fairer house than Prose”. Poem #446 glorifies poets, as the speaker claims that poets “distills amazing sense / from ordinary Meanings - “. While all three of these poems detail the speakers love for poetry, poems #206 and #788 describe the speakers need for anonymity and the decision to not publish their work – linking back to Emily’s need for privacy. Poem #206 playfully considers how much better it is to keep your art anonymous, stating “how dreary – to be – Somebody". Poem #788 chastises publication more harshly, expressing “poverty - be justifying / for so foul a thing” meaning that the speaker would rather live in poverty than have their work published. 

            With that being said, in These Fevered Days Martha Ackmann mentions that from a young age Emily was very interested in the effect art has on people and questioned if the artists should be held accountable for what their work makes people think and feel. Now, while I was reading and analyzing poems 409 (“The Soul selects her own Society-”), 466 (“I dwell in Possibility-”), and 446 (“This was a Poet-”) I noticed that while Emily does not directly answer either of these questions in any of these poems she does kind of indirectly answer them as she discusses the unmatchable power of poetry. For instance, in poem 409 she insinuates that poetry has the power to help one select the best company for one to keep as poetry is the space in which on bares their soul to the world and whoever can comprehend one’s poetry, understand ones soul, is a person one should think about opening up their door to. Then in poem 466 she explains how poetry is a greater medium than prose as poetry is an art form that can be interpreted in a plethora of different ways and can even be written in such a manner that keeps people questioning it for decades if not longer. Prose in her mind just did not have the same longevity as no matter if it is a deep piece of prose or a fluff piece it can only be interpreted in, at most, a couple of ways while poetry holds a mystery that might never see the light of day. Finally, in poem 446 she claims that because poetry has a greater life span than prose a poet will live long after “the familiar species” or writers of prose. She is basically saying that through poetry, the medium of possibility, she has attained immortality while those who spend their life toiling away in prose, a medium of little possibility, will not live extremely long after their mortal death. I am not sure if Emily was ever able to provide herself with definitive answers to those questions Ackmann says she posed to herself in her youth, but it might be safe to assume that in posing those questions she was able to come to the conclusion that poetry is a superior art form and can do things that most other art forms cannot. 

            Another thing Ackmann mentions is that when Emily’s first poem, a witty valentine she wrote for one of her sisters gentlemen callers, was published without her consent in the Springfield Daily Republican, a local newspaper, she must felt elated that others thought her writing was good, however, she never mentioned that the poem everyone was reading in the newspaper was hers, kept it all to herself. Ackmann suggests that the reason for this was because, though she must have appreciated the recognition, she did not require it. Emily knew “when it came to having a talent for words…she was the writer in the family” (70) and did not need or want everyone smothering her with attention and praise. She knew that she was good and that, for her, was good enough. After reading this in These Fevered Days two poems from this week jumped to the forefront of my mind; 260 (I’m Nobody! Who are you?”) and 788 (“Publication – is the Auction / Of the Mind of Man-”). In poem 260 Emily explains how it is much better to be nobody than a somebody as nobody’s have each other while the somebody’s are separated in their own little bubble of fame and noteworthiness. So, one may say, just as Ackmann implies, that Emily did not wish for others to know that the poem was hers because then she may become a somebody and when that happened she would no longer be able to mingle with the nobody’s, the people who gave her inspiration and sprung her from the loneliness of her self-imposed isolation. To her the isolation she needed to impose upon herself was nothing compared to the isolation that would follow if she attained fame. Then, in poem 788 she shows a great distain for publication, claiming that once published the author loses all right to their work and at times will even allow their work, their soul, their artistic integrity to be altered or completely changed for the sake of wealth. On page xx of the books authors note Ackmann says that Emily “did not publish because poetry to her was never finished”, it also seems that she might have never published as she believed that to do so would ruin her life’s work, destroy its integrity. 

             

“How dreary- to be – somebody! /How Public- like a Frog-” The first and second lines in the second stanza seem to solidify Dickinson’s stance in being seen suggesting that being known is not a desirable thing to her. This is also apparent in #409 although it seems as though Dickinson goes more into depth about the soul and one’s restrictiveness when letting someone new in. The poem #788, also seems to represent Dickinson’s poetic strategy. This poem reveals the detest that she had against being public. In the first line, the speaker suggests that one’s thoughts should not be shared when she says “Publication – is the Auction”. Dickinson felt like publishing her poems would be like her selling a piece of her soul which ultimately influenced part of her identity as a poet.   

While These Fevered Days does acknowledge the impact death and suffering had on the often morbid and curious theme of Emily’s work, but it also considers the more “mechanical” elements of the work itself. Early in the first chapter, Ackman makes it a point to establish Emily’s connection to imagery from a young age. Ackman discusses the impact of flowers worn in the hair of Emily’s childhood friend and says she “understood how a single object could represent something else and trigger emotions” (18).

The images used in Emily’s poems are often homes for larger metaphors that reveal deeper meanings and messages. Poem 365 (“Dare you see a Soul at the White Heat?”) is one of the most clear examples in this week’s reading. This poem only mentions the “soul” once at the beginning, and the rest of the poem takes to describing iron forged by fire. Comparing the soul to an ore “vanquishing” at flames, the reader gets the sense of the intensity of the soul or perhaps even emotions felt by the soul. While Dickinson never explicitly states the emotions she’s feeling, the image of the ore tells the reader it’s powerful.

Image, while powerful and undeniably present in her work, is not the only sense Emily employs into her poetry. Ackman says that Emily had a keen ear and “understood that accurately repeating sound made was a part of good writing” (13). While I don’t think there is a lot of actual sound (i.e. thump, tapping, creaking, etc.) explicitly used in Dickinson’s writing, her grammatical choices create a specific voice that the poem is told in. Her use of a dashes, exclamation points, and capitalization lets the poem be read as Dickinson wrote it. Poem 260 (“I’m Nobody! Who are you?”) is a poignant example of this concept. Dickinson capitalizes words that seem unnecessary (“Nobody”, “Somebody”, “Frog”). While this capitalization is likely pointing out the most important words to Dickinson, they also alter the inner monologue to say them with the importance of a proper noun or beginning of a sentence. The same could be said for her exclamation points in the poem; it creates an excitement in her voice and adds to the speed of the poem while the dashes work to slow it down and cause lingering over certain lines.

            Dickinson had the ability to express herself concisely and without remorse. This is seen in Poem 620 "Much Madness is divinest Sense-" This poem being only one stanza adheres to the true nature of the way that Dickinson writes poetry. Dickinson allowed for the words to have the strongest effect on the reader. There was no need for flowery language or unnecessary lines; poetry was a way for Dickinson to express how she truly feels. This is what being a poet meant to Dickinson. In her poem "They shut me up in Prose-" (445), Dickinson talks about control by others. People do not like things that variant from the norm, "They put me in the Closet– / Because they liked me “still" –'' (445). Dickinson rewrote the rules of poetry and that was unusual for many people to see; she was an innovator and her poetry reflected that. There were truly no boundaries with writing poetry; Dickinson was allowed to write freely. She used words and turned them into images and scenarios that made the reader take them under thoughtful consideration and come to their own conclusions. 

This poem is about the identity of oneself. The speaker is comparing themself to a “nobody” who isn’t easily recognizable or well-known. However, the speaker also makes fun of the people who are “somebody” or someone that others admire. I wonder what drove Dickinson to write this poem and what the context behind it was? Was she irritated about how people admire those who are well-known versus those who are not? I also wonder if this is the only manuscript for this poem? #260 didn’t seem to represent Dickinson’s usual poetic strategy or her usual doom and gloom, or dark academia, aesthetic. She sounds as if she is in a snarky and scornful position and perspective in this poem. Dickinson’s poetic philosophy is illustrated by taking a deeper look into being someone who is well known versus someone who is not.

Poem #401

         Dickinson is trying to tackle the idea of a dark soul versus a light one by using heat imagery, such as red versus white flames. I wonder what religion may have been drawn on for the images throughout the poem? I wonder where Dickinson’s inspiration came from for this poem? This poem felt more like Dickinson’s strategy and aesthetic because of its use of pathos and more complex use of images throughout. I would say Dickinson’s position and perspective in this poem have to do with curiosity, which also illustrates her poetic philosophy by dissecting the ideas of souls, flames and forges and what their deeper or philosophical meanings might be.

Poem #409

         This is another poem that explores the idea of soul, as well as women’s place in society at the time. I that the last stanza is trying to describe how men of Dickinson’s time tried to shut women’s creative and outspoken minds down. This poem struck me as taking a different approach to strategy and aesthetic by being outspoken about the ideas and beliefs Dickinson held in her heart. I felt Dickinson’s position and perspective might have been defensive and as inciting. Again, her poetic philosophy is illustrated by delving deep into the idea that women cannot be controlled in death. I wonder what others would think of this poem if they read it at the time it was written? Would Emily be satisfied with how women are treated today, I wonder?

Poem #445

I found this poem to be similar to #409 because it has the same elements. It has to do with people trying to stamp out the creative, imaginative, busybody child that we all find ourselves to be at one point in time. Again, I wonder what others would think of this poem if they read it at the time it was written? Would Emily be satisfied with the difference in how children and girls are treated now versus when she was alive? Although this poem’s strategy and aesthetic was similar to that of #409, I still found it to be different than other Dickinson poems I have read. Her poetic philosophy is illustrated by comparing captivity to being locked into speaking without metrical structure, as well as being stuffed in a closet to try and quiet a mind that was still going a hundred miles an hour.

Poem #446

         This poem is about freedom of expression and how one feels when they express themself. I feel it goes along with poems #445, #409 and # 709. I feel like Dickinson’s strategy and aesthetic in this poem is different because it is hopeful, happy and cheerful, while also calling for freedom of expression. Dickinson makes her position and perspective in this poem clear: she believes that people should have the freedom to express themselves how they see fit. I believe the poetic philosophy is looking at how freedom of expression affects the mind in terms of knowledge and existence.

Poem #519

         I wonder how people felt about Dickinson seeming to place mother nature above God in this poem, because that’s how it felt to me. I wonder why Dickinson even wrote to the world, if it never wrote to her? What prompted her to do so? I felt as if Dickinson is trying to say that although the world never wrote to her, Mother Nature seemed to do so with what was happening within nature itself. I feel as if this poem didn’t fit Dickinson’s usual strategy or aesthetic because it is shorter and sounds like a love letter to me, which doesn’t really seem like Dickinson’s style. Since, however, it would be a love letter to the earth/Mother Nature, I suppose if Dickinson were to write a love letter to anyone that is who would least surprise me. Her position and perspective seems open to interpretation or to the messages she believes the world is trying to send her. #519 illustrates her poetic philosophy by delving into the idea that the world or nature is trying to send signs and communicate.

Poem #519

         This definitely felt like Dickinson’s usual strategy and aesthetic. I feel like Dickinson is trying to draw on this idea that to be sane it to ascend, which means to be accepted by heaven and God. Therefore, to be insane is to descend, which means to be accepted by hell and the devil. I wonder if Dickinson thought she was insane and therefore was going to be sent to hell? Her position and perspective here seems to be questioning as to why madness is regarded the way it is. She also sounds like she’s trying to say that madness can be helpful or useful in some ways, by allowing those who are mad to observe things differently than others. The poetic philosophy I found illustrated here was dissecting the idea of madness versus sanity.

Poem #709

Originally, I felt like a lot of Dickinson’s poems were morbid, but now I can see that many of them had to do with feeling forced to subdue one’s creative mind; this poem, #445 and #409 are examples. I got a cruel vibe from this poem. When I read it I felt like the speaker was biting out every word in a nasty tone that was meant to dig into adults and make them feel uncomfortable, and reflect on the effect adults were having on young people whose creativity they tried to stamp out. The poetic philosophy illustrated is exploring the idea of suppressed curiosity and why society does it to people.

Poem #788

         I felt as if this poem was a bit scornful to those who publish their creative work. I suppose, from Emily’s perspective that she is trying to say that she doesn’t like how the economy is trying to use creative work to make money off of people. I feel like she’s saying someone’s written, creative work is their own and they shouldn’t publish it. I wonder why Dickinson felt this way? Since the poem appeared scornful to me, I would say that the aesthetic is different from most of Dickinson’s other work, but the strategy she used to approach this poem is similar to others.

Poem #1263

#1263 talks about how the truth has to be better than a lie, which can be contradictory. It is saying that the truth has to be played up a bit and bedazzled in order to appeal to anyone; but isn’t that like lying, in a way? Altering the truth? I felt that the strategy here was different than most of Dickinson’s poems because it is a nonet. The aesthetic was similar to other poems though, because it’s examining a simple issue with complex thoughts and ideas. Dickinson’s position and perspective here is that lying and dazzling the truth are the same. This is also her poetic philosophy because it delves into the idea of lies and the truth being intertwined and having some of the same elements as one another.

These Fevered Days - Author’s Note through Chapter Three

After reading These Fevered Days, I found that Dickinson was basically like any other person. She did many of the same things as we did, had the same family dynamics as many of us and experienced many of the same things we do. Dickinson clearly had a great intuition regarding the arts, and she used that to her advantage. Knowing now that her sister was the one to publish her work, I wonder how Dickinson would have felt about that, had she known? Dickinson is clearly someone who appreciated the little things in life, which can be seen reflected in her poetry. Dickinson also tackled large, broad subjects and ideas by using everyday images to depict, describe and compare to them.

After reading about the themes that emerge in the book, I can see how the last one, “[Dickinson’s] belief in sustaining power of art,” could be connected to some of the poems of hers we read this week. It is clear from the book, as well as the poems that Dickinson felt free when she was home alone. She felt as if her creative mind could finally wander freely and explore ideas. From both the book and the poem, I could see Dickinson’s struggle with religion. One thing I wish Dickinson’s poems explored more is her family dynamic, because that is something I thoroughly enjoyed reading about. Lastly, I find that all writers, but poets especially, have the ability to see the world completely different than others. Dickinson is one of those writers who clearly expressed her difference in perception about things through her poems, and wasn’t afraid to do so.