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C H A P T E R - I

The Themes of Emily Dickinson

The main effort at e s t a b l i s h i n g Emily Dickinson as a r e b e l poet,

begins with a detailed study of her concurrent themes, focussing upon the

novelty of h e r treatment of them not o n l y from t h e conventional point of view

but also f r o m those of h e r contemporaries.

Looking back just two centuries from the birth of Emily

Dickinson the old New England Church provides enough evidence of the

puritan's sense of grace and beauty expressed in simple forms. There were

limits imposed on literary compositions too ; the style of the artist, his

approach to h i s materials and h i s medium/which must be useful to s o c i e t y , the

aim being to set forth the glory of Cod and not to indulge in the artists'

imagination. Though a poet, Anne Bradstreet wanted to make it clear to her

children that :

" I have not studied in t h i s you read to show my s k i l l , but to

d e c l a r e the t r u t h , not to set f o r t h myself but t h e g l o r y of Cod ".

Deep into t h e nineteenth century the old ideas and o p i n i o n s clung

to t h e new n a t i o n .

Whitman observes in the opening of his 1855 Preface to the

Leaves of Crss that " the slough still sticks to opinion and manners and

literature while the life which served its requirements has passed into the

new l i f e of t h e new f o r m s . "

The conventional poet of W h i t m a n ' s day took t h e easy way out of

stating again the old conceptions from abroad and affirming anew the outworn

T'. The wj|r^. of Anne B r a d s t r e e t , edT. Jeannine Hens ley (Cambridge, Massa-
Chuset'ts ; Harvand U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1967) p . 240.
 ( 8 )

affirmations of the past. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's " A Psalm

of Life " disturbed nobody's comfortable beliefs. Walt Whitman could have

remained snug and safe by s t r i c t l y cdd'hering to the sentimental verses like "

0 Captain, My Captain, " Which proved so popular during that time. But his

choice was d e l i b e r a t e . Like Emily Dickinson he chose to look deeply into his

own nature, to make profound discoveries of the self and s p i r i t there.

For Emily Dickinson too, poetry is less a form of self expression then a

probing and questioning of her inner l i f e , her soul. Infact her grand theme is

- " Life as it is involved in her life Her empire is, in the

2
poems, one over which she has total dominion - her soul. "

Emily Dickinson, descendant of a Puritan New Ei'nglander, was born too

late to live by the laws of Puritanism. Inspite of her great reverence for

orthodox religion and morality, Emily Dickinson could not conform to the

doctrinal aspect of Puritanism. She could neither reject outright nor finally

accept the religious dogmas, all along she struggled with her faith. The

reading of the Bible inspired her with her various structures and thematic

images of many of her poems. Her principal themes are therefore death,

immortality, love and nature.

Emily Dickinson's poems strongly suggest her pre-occupation with

the subject of death, almost to the point of obsession. Her experience of

death came as early as thirteen when she lost one of her dear friends.

Perhaps the greatest influence on her response to death was the death of her

preceptor Benjamin Franklin N:,ewton. She talks of him as a friend who taught

her immortality. For her " a friend without a corporeal frame means

immortality ".

By the closing years of her life Emily Dickinson had witnessed

the death of her close and dear ones, her f a t h e r ' s death in ISZ^*, followed

2. The Continuity of American Poetry by Roy Harvey Pearce. Princeton

New Jersey University Press, 1961. "American Rennaisance" p. 82.
 ( 9 )

by the death of Samuel Bowles in 1878^ Four years later Rev. Charles

Wadsworth's and her mother's death which followed in quick succession, led

her to w r i t e to h e r cousin in t h e y e a r ninteen e i g h t y three^^,

3
" The C r i s i s of t h e s o r r o w of so many y e a r s is t h a t it tires me."

She was close enough to d e a t h to t a l k about it freely. Her reflections on the

subject of death is not wholly philosophical, for death is not merely an

abstract idea for her. An ennumeration of her various death poems brings to

light the fact that Emily Dickinson has treated the subject of death along

various lines. She has personified death as a gentleman and lover. She has

also presented the state of death as t h e passing of t h e d i s c a r n a t e mind from

one world to another - from actual consciousness to t h e consciousness of the

dead.

Above all, through the theme of death Emily Dickinson has

raised problematic questions such as of t h e a f t e r w o r l d and l i f e a f t e r death.

In the poem, "Because I Could Not Stop For Death".^ death is

humanized and made to behave like a gentleman- lover. On the descriptive

level the poem is an e x c e l l e n t example of a metaphysical conceit describing

in a s i n g l e image a b r i d a l journey, which is in f a c t t h e f u n e r a l procession.

In its obvious interpretation the poem is simply the courting of

a lady by a k i n d gentleman who is f i n a l l y taken away in a coach to a

" House t h a t seemed / A s w e l l i n g of t h e g r o u n d / .

The roof was s c a r c e l y v i s i b l e "

3. The Letters of Emily Dickinson, 3 \Jo\s. e d . Thomas H. Johnson and

Theodora W a r d . ( C a m b r i d g e : H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y Press , 1958)
In subsequent c h a p t e r s , E m i l y D i c k i n s o n ' s l e t t e r s w i l l be r e f f e r e d to b y
t h e volume number to be f o l l o w e d by t h e page number.

U. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, ed b y Thomas H. Johnson London

: Faber and Faber ; 3 Queen Square, - 1970. A l l r e f e r e n c e s to E m i l y
D i c k i n s o n ' s poems are from t h i s e d i t i o n i n d i c a t e d as ' J ' f o l l o w e d by the
number of t h e poem q u o t e d .
 ( 10 )

At a deeper level of meaning the poem presents an unified vision of the

themes of death. The narrator of the poem, obviously the dead woman,

describes her journey in all its picturesque details - the school and the

children playing, the f i e l d s , and also t h e s e t t i n g sun as she sees passing by

in h e r journey towards eternity.

Allen Tate's remark on t h e poem t h a t - " The t e r r o r of death is

5
objectified through this figure of the genteel driver ," is

questionable. The n a r r a t o r ' s v o i c e does not at any p o i n t seem to r e v e a l terror

or agony. Infact the word 'kindly' suggests how great a favour has been

bestowed upon the n a r r a t o r , "yhe opening lines impart a sense of premonition,

as i f t h e n a r r a t o r had been i n f o r m e d about t h e visii'^or.- - Death.

There is no regret nor any sense of doubt. Before the journey

had actually started the narrator was busy with her life's tasks, but now

she d e c l a r e s -

" I had put away / My labour and my

Leisure too, / For His c i v i l i t y " (J. 103)

The third and the fourth lines of the poem state t h e number of

passengers in t h e coach and i d e n t i f i e s them.

" The c a r r i a g e h e l d but just ourselves -

and I m m o r t a l i t y . "

The travellers are the narrator, the coachman (Death) and

Immortality. Emily Dickinson is v e r y particular about such terms as Eternity

and Immortality. She clearly distinguishes the three terms - Eternity,

Immortality and t h e s e l f :

" B e h i n d me - d i p s Eternity -
Before me - Immortality
Myself - t h e t e r m between ;" ( J . 721)

5. Emjjiy Dickinson : A Collection of C r i t i c a l Essays e d . R i c h a r d B, Sewall.

Englewood C l i f f s : P r e n t i c e H a l l , I n c , 1963.
" E m i l y oickinson (1932), Allen Tate".
 ( n )

Both Richard Chase and C h a r l e s R. Anderson a r e of the

opinion that "Immortality" in t h e poem is t h e end of t h e journey.

According to the Christian theology the soul is the

immortal essence in the human oersonality. Suprisingly enough, Emily

Dickinson's ideas about d e a t h are well contained within the theological

framework of Christianity, inspite of her non-conformist attitude. In

this light "Immortality' can best be e x p l a i n e d as t h e immortal soul.

Allen Tate's remark about Emily Dickinson's 'Terror of

death does not hold good, because 'terror' finds no place in her

attitude towards death. Hers is not t h e a t t i t u d e of an e s c a p i s t ; hers

is but a s t o i c acceptance of d e a t h . Emily Dickinson is k e e n l y aware of

a sense of division, a feeling of bisection (as the poet calls it ) in

the mind which leads her to accept the fact that a part of o n e ' s self

is certainly mortal. She describes Imortality as the divided part of

the body -

"Mind without corporeal frame".

The two separate entities - the mortal body and the immortal soul

pass through death to reach the state of eternity. As we read the

poem we find that the first part of the poem relates to the visual

experiences of the mortal self, ending in t h e imaginative sensations of

the immortal self. Slowly and l e i s u r e l y the journey proceeds.

However, in t h e succeeding stanzas t h e movement becomes

fast and the quickness is evolved by the alliteration of the word"

passed".
" T h e coach passed t h e s c h o o l , w h e r e c h i l d r e n strove
. . . . Passed t h e f i e l d s of gazing g r a i n
. . . . Passed t h e s e t t i n g s u n " . (J. 103)
The images of c h i l d , g r a i n and sun are s i g n i f i c a n t l y used
to r e p r e s e n t , respectively the three progressive stages of l i f e - M;- the
beginning, the prime and the end. The "setting sun" symbolizes the
completeness of life and o b v i o u s l y means t h e end of life. It is at this
juncture when the narrator passess the "Setr
tina sun" t h e shift in the narrator's_ consciousness, f r o m . one
 ( 12 )

world to another starts. Mer sense perception now g i v e s way to imagination.

Tine ordinary consciousness changes into mythopoeic consciousness. Her

imagination is at its best when she describes the grave in terms of a

swelling of t h e ground and the line " the cornice in t h e ground " makes the

visual impact clear and lasting. By the end of the poem we find that the

narrator's consciousness is placed out of time. It has been 'centuries' since

the day the narrator travelled towards Eternity but her consciousness has

failed to keep account of the worldly calendar. Time has s t o p p e d f o r h e r and

the consciousness feels that the time between her burial and t h e picking up

of h e r memory is " s h o r t e r than t h e Day".

In t h e poem " I h e a r d a f l y buzz when I d i e d , " ( J. 465 )

The theme of death reaches a different dimension. Emily

Dickinson's scepticism about l i f e after death enters t h e poem in t h e f o r m of a

fly. The fly becomes the dominant factor against which the speaker is

struggling.

The poem is a familiar death-bed scene. The narrator is

reminiscing about a past experience. The buzzing of t h e f l y stands in contrast

to t h e " stillness in t h e room " filled with the bereaved ones. As the voice

speaks f r o m t h e p r e s e n t she can o n l y recall that

" I c o u l d not see to see ".

The whole experience is a mental reconstruction of the past

event of d e a t h . The 'fly' has r e l i g i o u s overtones. The n a r r a t o r had

" signed away / what p o r t i o n of me be /

assignable " ( J.465) )

It means that the worn out body and tired brain have accepted

death. Just " then i t was / t h e r e interposed a f l y ". ( J.465 )

The f l y in i t s general meaning stands f o r d i r t , evil and m i s c h i e f . In the poem

it signifies the decaying and d y i n g situation. Keeping in mind the scepticism

of Emily Dickinson, the 'Blue Fly' can be best explained as t h e e v i l spirit

 ( 13 )

coming at t h e moment of d e a t h to t a k e possession of t h e u n b l e s s e d soul of the

narrator. The fear of damnation lingered in the mind of Emily Dickinson as

she c o u l d not respond to t h e c a l l of the Puritan faith and C o d . The religious

crisis is apparent here. It is the theme of death which leads to the

questionof an a f t e r world.

The general concept of immortality as i m p e r s i s h a b i l i t y was rooted

in all thinking in primitive society. But it is impossible to pinpoint the

stage of mental development at which survival after death began to be

doubted. Plato's dualism of body and soul tended to settle with the passage

of time into a neat division of body and SOUIQ, which collapses at death to

launch the soul on its journey to eternity. The question that must have

constantly posed itself before Emily Dickinson was whether the soul would

retain its finite identity after physical death or merge with the infinite

being.

The security of immortality promised by the orthodox belief is

for her a tame prospect in which paradise is a "House of Supposition" and

"Heaven q u i t e insecure" (J. 696).

"The first fact of E/mily Dickinson's experience then, was that

whatever the Bible may mean by Paradise or Eden, the world of lost

innocence and happiness symbolized by the unfallen Adam and E\Q', it is

something that is given in e x p e r i e n c e . It is a t t a i n a b l e , t h e poet has attained

it " '

Emily Dickinson is highly sceptical about the accepted dogmatic

formula regarding the intricate problem of immortality - as a future life of

eternal union with God or eternal damnation. Even as a girl Emiy Dickinson

felt the inadequacy of her faith to provide " a Cod so strong as t h a t / To

h o l d my l i f e f o r me " . (J.576).

6. N o r t h r o p F r y e - Fables of Identity : Studies in Poetic mythology (New

/ o r k : H a r c o u r t , b r a c e and W o r l d , INC 1963) P . 2 1 1 ,
In subsequent c h a p t e r s any r e f e r e n c e to t h i s book w i l l be c i t e d as Frye
to be f o l l o w e d by t h e cage n u m b e r .
 ( 14 )

She even claims that "The fact that Earth is Heaven /

Whether Heaven is heaven or not " (J.1408). She refuses to accept the

notion of life as a v a l l e y of misery and u n h a p o i n e s s , the only means

of escape from which is heaven. At times Emily Dickinson adopts a

childlike notion of Heaven. In a letter to Mrs Holland, written late

summer in t h e y e a r eighteen f i f t y six she w r i t e s :

"My only sketch, profile, of Heaven is a large, blue

sky, bluer and larger than t h e b i g g e s t I have seen in June

"She also w r i t e s in t h e same letter,

"If roses had not f a d e d , and f r o s t s had n e v e r come, and

one had not f a l l e n here and t h e r e whom I c o u l d not w a k e n , t h e r e were

no need of other Heaven than the one below - and if Cod had been

here t h i s summer, and seen t h e things that 1 have seen - I guess that

He w o u l d t h i n k his paradise superfluous ".

Life purified of the temporal, experiencing supreme joy,

and s e l f - f u l f i l l m e n t , amounts to I m m o r t a l i t y h e r e and now.

To Ettiily Dickinson, death is an adventure of the

consciousness, her conception of death as an aspect of reality is not

dogmatic and nor is immortality.

Immortality is an abstract truth for her based on her

direct e x p e r i e n c e of death.

Emily Dickinson's theme of Death and Immortality are

intimately associated with her concept of Cod and r e l i g i o n . Though the

idea of a heaven of eternal happiness did not impress her, Emily

Dickinson at times regrets her non-conformist attitude. So poetry

became f o r her the o n l y means of a s s o c i a t i o n between h e r soul and God

whom she conceives of as Absolute Reality. Emily Dickinson is

however v e r y sceptical about the P u r i t a n Cod and faith.

The themes of Death and love are interrelated in Emily

 ( 1 .
lO :^i^
Dickinson's poetry.

So c l o s e l y are the thernes"'^flBi^that it is d i f f i c u l t to

exactly pin point the lines of d e m a r c a t i o n between each t h e m e , as each

one is involved in a n o t h e r . The themes are positioned like the strings

of a l y r e , one cannot be touched w i t h o u t d i s t u r b i n g the others.

As to t h e themes of love and d e a t h , it can be seen that

in Emily Dickinson, love becomes an emblem absorbing the cycle of

life, death and ressurrection and immortality. This is how the finest

of Emily Dickinson's love poems have their roots in her religious

consciousness.

"Circumsference thou Bride of Awe/Possessing thou shalt

be / possessed by e v e r y hallowed knight

That d a r e to covet thee " . ( J . 1620)

It can be recalled her that 'Awe' is Emily Dickinson's

personal term for Cod. The relationship between the 'circumference'

and 'Awe' has been equated to the bride and the bridegroom. The

'circumference' is possessed by a greater consciousness - Cod to whom

the poet responds like a virgin. Cod courts her soul, takes it to

heaven - this is the union with her lover, possible only after the

mortal existence on the earth has ceased. Though she abandoned and

abdicated the Puritan god, yet she could not altogether remain

uncompromisingly hostile to t h e concept of T r i n i t y in C h r i s t i a n theology

or the 'Celestial Host' as she calls them. Christianity and Puritanism

offered her valuable ingredients - a m i x t u r e of ideas and emotions that

constitute her poetry ; specially the notion that the soul remains

immortal even after death and attains oneness with the person of Cod

in Trinity. But expressing this idea in her poems, Emily Dickinson

reject the theological principles and her conception of Immortality is

centred in t h e lovers themselves.

 ( 16 )

"These F l e s h l e s s L o v e r s met -
A Heaven in a gaze -
A Heaven of Heavens - t h e privilege

of one a n o t h e r ' s Eyes". ( J. 625)

The Pt3.radise or Heaven is t h e p l a c e of u n i f i c a t i o n for the

lovers separated on earth by the severity of moral and Social laws.

Certain other poems deal with the possibility of a knowledge of

immortality which would enable the lovers to meet in the post-mortal

life.

Emily Dickinson's love experience recognises Cod as

lover, a - "Dim companion" of her sou! - and also establishes union

with Him in Eternity. The other fact is that, in the union with Cod

the lover brings about a Conversion in h e r which is b o t h emotional and

physical .

In the poem " He touched me, so I I'ue to know", (

(J.506) Christ the lover touches the narrator, and the latter groping

upon t h e lover's breast finds " i t was a boundless p l a c e "(1.4)

The experience of the narrator is not merely the

physical touch but also the realisation of the expansi/eness of the

lover in contrast to the puniness of the narrator. Just as t h e stream

flows towards t h e sea to submerge its identity in i t s ( sea ) limitless

expanse, so does the narrator lose her identity in the person of the

lover, and t h i s e x p e r i e n c e has changed h e r profoundly :

"And now I am d i f f e r e n t from before.

As i f I breathed superior air -
Or b r u s h e d a Royal Cown -
My f e e t , t o o , t h a t had wandered so -
My C y p s y face - t r a n s f i g u r e d now -
To tenderer; Renown " - ( J . 506 )

In the poem " I am a l i v e - I guess - ", the narrator

has already " stepped into immortality". The speaker is immensely

 ( 17 )

happy for being not merely a l i v e but

"Alive - Twofold
The B i r t h I had

and t h i s - besides, in - Thee ;" (J.470 1.27,28 )

she has now become one w i t h God and has a t t a i n e d immortality.

Emily Dickinson's uncompromising attitude towards the

Puritan God and theology was reflected as early as her school days,

when she could not bring herself to answer the call of God. At the

age of seventeen Emily Dickinson declared herself "standing alone in

rebellion, and growing very careless ". The struggle for faith

continued throughout her life. Inspite of being sceptical about an after

life, Emily Dickinson was v e r y often plagued by the idea of a damned

soul. But her faith was in the integrity of her own mind and so her

individual triimphed over all other things. She remained a critic of

the Puritan God throughout her life, though she would have been

nothing, she f e e l s , without Cod.

There is a sense of regret expressed in several of her

poems :

"Those-dying then.
Knew - w h e r e t h e y went -
They went to C o d ' s R i g h t Hand -
That Hand is amputated now
And God cannot be found " . { J. 1551 )

Cod is to her an' Absolute Reality' and while dealing

with this 'Absolute Reality', she v e r y often wears t h e mask ofachild.

Her mood is g e n e r a l l y surcharged w i t h a m i x t u r e of w i t , humour, irony

together with a kind of c h i l d l i k e innocence. T h i s is d i s c e r n i b l e in her

parody of the L o r d ' s Prayer :

"Papa above ; / r e g a r d a mouse

O'erpowered by t h e cat ;
Reserve w i t h in t h y kingdom
 ( 18 )

A 'Mansion' for the Rat ;"

Snug in seraphic cupboards
To n i b b l e a l l the day.
W h i l e unsuspecting cycles
Vfheel solemnly away ; " (J.61)

The poem " I never lost as much but twice" is Emily Dickinson's

charge against Providence for stealing away from the already

impoverished.

The loss of h e r loved ones f o r c e s an e x c l a m a t i o n f r o m her w h i c h is as

much a,? accusation as a plea :

" t w i c e have I stood a beggar

b e f o r e t h e d o o r of Cod ;
Angel - t w i c e descending
Reimbursed my s t o r e -
Burglar ; Banker - Father ;
I am poor once more ; " (J. 49)

Behind this playful and sporting attitude towards this '

Absolute R e a l i t y ' , there is a clear-cut manifestation of sincere and

a b i d i n g f a i t h as she ( E m i l y Dickinson) remarks in 1848 :

" I have not y e t g i v e n up to t h e c l a i m s of C h r i s t , but trust I am not

entirely t h o u g h t l e s s on so i m p o r t a n t a s u b j e c t ."

The Biblical myth about Jacob who wrestles with an

angel all night and defeats it, and in the morning discovers that it

was Cod ; fascinated her and she f r e q u e n t l y refers to i t in h e r poems

and letters. The poem " Two Swimmers wrestled on the spar " -

(J,201) is a r e f e r e n c e to t h i s Biblical Myth -

"Two Swimmers w r e s t l e d on t h e s p a r -
Until'^' t h e morning sun -
When one - t u r n e d s m i l i n g to t h e land -
Oh Cod ; the other one :

The s t r a y ships - passing

Spied a face -
 ( 19 }

Upon t h e water borne -

With ,eyes in d e a t h - still begging r a i s e d -

And b a n d s - beseeching - thrown ; " (J,201)

Here the wrestlers (Jacob and the Angel) are introduced

as swimmers and the sea is introduced in the background where the

swimmers wrestled until morning.

Since Emily Dickinson's intention is to covey her

personal feelings through the poem ; she quite conveniently changes

the B i b l i c a l myth into a p o e t i c one.

Emily Dickinson identifies herself with Jacob who

wrestles with faith. In the poem Qod is victorious and He does not

bless Jacob. This is e x a c t l y the situation in w h i c h t h e poet visualises

herself. Literaiy the poem is a reflection on the final destiny of a

person who d e f i e s -God. T h r o u g h it Emily Dickinson projects her own

position as a non-believer. God refusing to bless Jacob, projects her

fear that her prayers may be u n - b l e s s e d and t h e r e f o r e unanswered.

Surprisingly enough, for Emily Dickinson Cod and love

are synonymous. He has been projected in several poems as t h e lover

figure, the ' Awe' whose bride is the poet } (J, 1620) as the

superior Man who touches her and she is transformed in mind and

matter ;- (J. 506). She also calls Him "My Dim Companion" (J.275).

The poet employs various symbols, images and metaphors to concretize

her relationship with Cod or the greater consciousness - like that of

the sea to t h e moon, b r i d e to t h e b r i d e g r o o m , daisy to t h e s u n .

Through her unique technique of presenting t h e theme of

Cod and religion, Emily Dickinson suceeds in making it clear that her

Cod and religion is not just a ritual or a sacrament. Cod must be for

her an e x p e r i e n c e of t h e consciousness. She must feel a total sense of

belonging to Cod - what Cod is f o r her and she f o r Him. She expects

to feel His presence w i t h h e r whole b o d y , m i n d , and soul.

 ( 20 )

This is what she indicates when she announces "The

Bible deals with the centre and her business is circumference".

'Centre' for her is the doctrinal aspect of religion and she feels alien

to i t . It is Emily Dickinson's mythopoe';ic imagination that creates for

her the world of circumference - it is the metaphor through which she

describes the a c t i v i t y of the consciousness. In this innermost part of

her consciousness she finds her Cod and Heaven. Through the

experience of her circumference she reaches Paradise.

Perhaps the most recurrent theme in Emily Dickinson,

next to the theme of Death and Immortality, is Nature. Nature was the

most popular subject picked up by the poets of the 1860's. It

continued from Blake and Wordsworth in England to Emerson in America.

The theme was exhaustively e x p l o r e d .

To Wordsworth Nature was an expression of the Divine

will, a 'guide, friend and p h i l o s o p h e r ' ; a cure of the evils of c i v i l i -

zation, and also a means of glimpsing i m m o r t a l i t y . In America, Emerson

was the poet perhaps the closest to Wordsworth. They all

philosophised about Nature. Emily Dickinson's treatment of Nature is

different and unique. Her's is a fresh approach, she never idealizes

nature nor evolves a philosophy around i t . Her treatment of Nature is

so varied that a single definition is inadequate to describe her

attitude towards Nature.

In most of her minor poems, she like Wordsworth,

declares the existence of a mystical bond between Nature and man.

"Several of Nature's People/ I know, and they know me/

I feel for them a transport of c o r d i a l i t y "(J.985)
Unlike her Puritan heritage, she does not see

Nature as a stern preceptor. At times her attitude towards Nature is

humorous and f r i e n d l y . It is in sheer delight and m i r t h she writes :

 ( 21 )

" In the name of the Bee / And of the ButterfI'^/TArid of

t h e B r e e z e , Amen ; " (J. 18)

Yet in certain other poems Emily Dickinson's friendly

and close association with nature is reversed. She becomes unsure as

to t h e identity of Nature :

" N a t u r e and God-I n e i t h e r know

Yet b o t h so w e l l knew me
They startled, like Executors
Of My identity "y ( J. 835),

Most of her nature poems are an excellent appreciation

and minute description of Nature in all her subtleties and moods. For

her Nature is t h a t part of c r e a t i o n belonging to a h i g h e r order and so

: "Nature is what we know/yet h a v e no a r t to say / so impotfan't our

wisdom is / To h e r simplicity "- (J. 668),

Emily Dickinson's Nature poems e x p r e s s i n g a c e r t a i n mood

of nature, and her reactions to it, can be t e r m e d as r e f l e c t i v e poems

of her early stage of writing. The poem "These are the days when

Birds come back" (J. 130),^ d e s c r i b e s beautifully the transition period

between winter and spring. The sky is described as 'fraud' as it

resumes t h e " Old s o p h i s t r i e s of June "

" a b l u e and a g o l d m i s t a k e . " (J. 130)

The 'fraud' cheats the b i r d s as w e l l as t h e poet and a few b i r d s fly'

to take a backward look". As the air alters "softly/Hurries a timid

leaf". The whole process of renewal of nature is sacred to the poet

and she appeals to Nature to " Permit a child to join" in this

'communion*. The poet wishes to a p p r e c i a t e t h e beauty of e v e r y object

of Nature v i s u a l l y and p h y s i c a l l y , t h e r e f o r e she p l e a d s :

"Thy s a c r e d emblems to partake

Thy consecrated b r e a d to take
And t h i n e immortal wine ;" (J. 130)
 ( 22 )

The same mood is persistent in several other poems like "Further in

summer than the Birds ", (J. 1068) " There is a morn b y men unseen

" ( J . 24)

Towards t h e end of h e r poetic career, Emily Dickinson's

Nature poems seem to contain less of such concrete images, like the

Bobolinks, Bee, B i r d , Sky and Sea. Her concern is now with mystical

ideas and so t h e images and s y m b o l s used are abstract.

"Bring me t h e sunset in a cup" is an e x c e l l e n t example

of t h i s a b s t r a c t i o n . Fhere, t h e poet like an i n s p i r e d person questions :

"How far the morning leaps - Tell me what time the

weaver sleeps who spun t h e b r e a t h s of b l u e " * ; " ' (J.128) She even asks

for t h e sunset to be b r o u g h t in a c u p . She f e e l s at t h i s stage a d i r e c t

communion with N a t u r e . Such moments of e x h i l a r a t i o n , and ecstasy leads

her to p r o c l a i m : "And Awe - was a l l we c o u l d feel ;".

It is as if Emily Dickinson has been v i s i t e d by Shelly's

"awful, unseen presence", the s p i r i t of t h e "Intellectual Beauty", when

she is i n s p i r e d and t a l k s l i k e an O r a c l e .

"A l i t t l e Madness in t h e spring

Is wholesome even f o r the king" (J. 1333)

This 'madness' in ecstasy^ she finds is tiring, and

expresses itself in the beauties of nature. In such ecstatic state of

mind even t h e a w f u l and t e r r i f y i n g moods of nature c r e a t e an emotional

turmoil which is at ,-: once intense and v i v i d . The e x p e r i e n c e recorded

in the poem " I started early took my Dog", {J.520) is one such

terrifying experience.

On its literal level the poem is a record of the poets

walk by the sea s h o r e with her dog. She is in a most relaxed state

of mind. As she stands "Aground upon the sands" the sea advance

towards her. The sea is personified here first as a 'Tide' then as

 { 23 )

He' . Gradually

"the tide/went past my s i m p l e shoe -

And past my Apron - And My Belt
And past my B o d d i c e - too -".

With t h i s experience the narrator in t h e poem is moved e m o t i o n a l l y and

physically. Soon the narrator faces a kind of agonising terror as the

sea "made as He w o u l d eat me up . . . /And then I started - too -".

She is terrorised by the expanse of the sea against the backdrop of

which she is just a puny, helpless, fragile creature - " as a

Dew/upon a Dandelions sleeve". 'He' follows her as i f trying to court

her but she escapes 'His' grip and succeeds in resisting 'His'

advances. The line "I felt his silver heel" reveal her appreciation of

t h e beauty of t h e sea even in its terrifying aspect. In t h e last stanza

t h e sea is seen w i t h d r a w i n g in degrees :

"And bowing - w i t h a M i g h t y look -

At me - The sea w i t h d r e w -"

Emily Dickinson's whole conception of nature owes its

allegiance to t h e bees and b o b o l i n k s and roses of h e r g a r d e n , Simi l a r l y

the tiny incidents in her exclusively private world, formed the basis

of the drama of life she constructed in her poems, like - Death and

Immortality, ecstasy and suffering, love and separation. What was

outside her 'circumference' was outside her orbit. Her only form of

communication with the outside w o r l d is h e r poetry.

"This is my letter to the world", (J.441) is what she

says of her poems. Her poems mirror her feelings and reflect a

rebellious mind and a unique p e r s o n a l i t y at work.

Critics claim that the educated Americans of Walt

W h i t m a n ' s t i m e found h i m repy.gnant because t h e poet d e v i a t e d from the

'genteel tradition' of his time by writing unabashedly about sex and

the 'body electric', - such ideas which were taboo during that
 ( 24 )

period. Emily dickinson too may inave been u n a c c e p t a b l e but decidedly

to a lesser degree than Whitman ; had her poems been published

during her life time. Emily Dickinson defied tradition only in her

choice of themes and s t y l e . She never w r o t e about t h e conventional Cod

or religion. Nor did she stick to the traditional metre and rhyme

scheme, or poetic language of her time. Whereas the erotic and

amorous nature of Whitman's writing debased the very decency of

contemporary life. The poet o u t r a g e o u s l y claims :

"As t h e hugging and l o v i n g b e d - f e l l o w s sleeps at my

side through
the n i g h t , and w i t h d r a w s at t h e peep of t h e d a y with
stealthy tread, .... " (Song of Myself)

It was precisely because Emily Dickinson's thought and

techniques ran ahead of her time that she failed to reach the

limelight, as w e l l as acceptance and r e c o g n i t i o n when she was alive.The

fame she earned posthumsously and t h e d e l i g h t with which she is read

to-day, is proof enough of h e r modernity. Critics have f a i l e d to fully

appreciate so m y s t e r i o u s a poet and assign to her a specific place in

the literary genre. That she is simultaneously called a metaphysical

poet, mystical poet, religious poet, transcendental poet, establishes

the enigmatic range of her imagination. Recognising the novelty of the

treatment of her themes, modern critics have made claims of

discovering h e r and of r e s t o r i n g her.

The f a c t Qnat E m i l y Dickinson had kept her poems hidden

fully convinced that they would never see the light of the day ;

makes h e r poems a l l the more precious.

The utmost secrecy with which she c o n f i n e d her poems,

is a distinct clarification of the point that she wrote not to impress

her critics, nor to baffle her readers with her wit. For her, writing

poetry was t h e o n l y means of communication between h e r inner soul and

 { 25 )

the outside world, and what she wrote was the ultimate truth as she

perceived it.

To quote R i c h a r d Wilbur -

" The poems of E m i l y D i c k i n s o n are a continual appeal to

experience, motivated by an a r r o g a n t passion f o r t h e t r u t h , 'Truth is

o

so r a r e a t h i n g ' , she once s a i d , 'it is d e l i g h t f u l to t e l l it'.

In t h e process, when she found the Christian religion and Cod falling

short of her need to establish the truth she conveived, Emily

Dickinson did not hesitate even to replace Christianity with her own

personal religion.

"The result is a home-made religion to suit her : the

old terms are made to mean their opposites ; the rituals are stolen

and d e r i t u a l i z e d ; the sacred is d e s e c r a t e d ; t h e f o r m s are r e f o r m e d .

The a l l u s i o n functions as camp ; the naivete is revolutionary
9

8."^"~'"Sumptous D e s t i l u t i o i r ' - ^Ri^chcTtrd W i l b u r , f r o m : Emily Dickinson^,; A

Collection of Ci^iitical E^.says, e d . b y R i c h a r d B . S e w a l l . New Yr>ri<
P r e n t i c e - H a l l INC, 1963 ' .
9. " T h e Sweet Wolf W i t h i n ; E m i l y D i c k i n s o n and Walt Whitman" P.
292 in The only Kangaroo among the Beauty, Emily Dickinson and
America ( B a l t i m o r e and London : John Hopkins U n i v e r s i t y . P r e s s ,
1979)
In subsequent c h a p t e r s r e f e r e n c e to t h i s book w i l l be c i t e d as
jlfeller to be f o l l o w e d b y t h e page n u m b e r .