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In reading the first three stories for today, all of which are narrated by Uncle Julius, I became interested in the twists Chesnutt adds at the end of the stories. In each one, it is ultimately revealed telling the story benefits Uncle Julius in some way. In the Goophered Grapevine, it is revealed that he lives on the property and was making money off of the “haunted” grapevines. Similarly, Uncle Julius ended up being able to use the “haunted” schoolhouse as a place for prayer in Po’ Sandy instead of it being used for a kitchen. Then, the wife gave Julius all of the remaining ham after hearing about Dave in Dave’s Neckliss. 

All of these examples portray Julius as both clever and tricky. From what I’ve been told about Chesnutt, I think he wants us to be reading these stories as Julius being clever and smart – able to outsmart white people. This would add dimension to black characters and allow the black characters in the story to triumph, despite the horrors of their past, as detailed by Julius throughout the narratives. However, I can also see how at the time that Chesnutt was writing these, that these might be read as portraying black people as tricky or up to no good. I wonder what the general understanding of these stories were at the time they were published, and I wonder what Chesnutt wanted to accomplish with these blurred lines. Regardless, I think these endings add nuance to the story and help paint it in a new light, which I really appreciated. 

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Publication – is the Auction
Of the Mind of Man –
Poverty – be justifying
For so foul a thing

Possibly – but We – would rather
From Our Garret go
White – unto the White Creator –
Than invest – Our Snow –

Thought belong to Him who gave it –
Then – to Him Who bear
It’s Corporeal illustration – sell
The Royal Air –

In the Parcel – Be the Merchant
Of the Heavenly Grace –
But reduce no Human Spirit
To Disgrace of Price –

(Dickinson 1686)

We get a sense of Emily Dickinson’s view on priorities in writing: writing to sell versus writing to be in touch with the soul and for artistic purposes. She thinks writing for the mass market is “foul”, which is pretty consistent with the fact that she tent to keep most of her poems to herself, having a sense of reverence for her privacy so that she could be as authentic as possible. However, she also acknowledges that not everyone is in a position to not write for a living – as far as I know, her family was fairly well off so I don’t think she struggled financially, which gave her the privilege of being a writer unburdened by the thought of how well her texts would sell.

It seems here she describes herself being in a white gown and living in the attic:

“From Our Garret go
White – unto the White Creator -“

…which is interesting because in class on Tuesday we did talk about this image of her that some people held, which we were cautioned to interpret with “a huge grain of salt” (Prof. Oerlemans). Could this piece be the source of that speculation?

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While all of Dickinson’s poems are worthwhile in their own right, 479 was particularly interesting to me for its interpretation of death and the race against it. Generally speaking, people interpret death as something to be avoided and outpaced, for the end of your story comes when death catches up to you. However, Dickinson portrays death as something more akin to a traveling companion, someone to be welcomed and respected rather than an uncaring force of nature. In the poem, the speaker describes how death “kindly stopped for [them]” and how they “slowly drove” and “knew no haste,” implying that to drive alongside death rather than trying to speed ahead of it might result in a more fulfilling life.

In a similar vein, Dickinson presents immortality and death as two sides of the same coin. Both Death and Immortality reside in the carriage that the speaker rides in, which says something about the nature of immortality. By definition, immortal means to be unable to die, yet to ride in the same carriage as both would mean that one would be simultaneously at the mercy of death and far above it. In essence, one is immortal until death decides to claim them. One cannot die until death decides it’s time, which also then brings up the question of free will and the choice to die or survive. Maybe that last part is a bit of a stretch, but I just found it interesting how many questions this poem brings up and its fairer representation of death.

Loading Likes... One idea that came up twice in the readings for this class is immortality. Considering Dickinson’s close relationship with religion, it seems very likely that the immortality she refers to is in a religious sense. However, I still think the poems she refers to immortality in are a little odd. Poem 479 real stands out to me for its characterization of immortality and death. From the. opening lines, “Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me -” there is already an implied difference in power between death and the speaker, but it seems to be the speaker that has more power. I would imagine some of the characters power over death comes from their lack of fear of it. The lines “And I had put away / My labor and my leisure too, / For His Civility” suggest that level of comfort just mentioned as there is no rush from either death or the speaker, both seem content to sit and watch. It seems like through this calm acceptance of death the character achieves some sort of peace, or perhaps immortality?

The idea of immortality comes up again in poem 764. again, I found this to be a somewhat strange poem that isn’t particularly straightforward. What caught my eye the most were the final lines “For I have but the power to kill, / Without – the power to die -“. Ideas of life and death are at play throughout the poem. I thought her comparison to life as a loaded gun was very different as I feel loaded guns are more often closely associated with death. I think these poems present two very different presentations of the ideas of life, death, and immortality and I find it interesting how such similar themes can be presented in such different ways by the same poet.

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Of all the poems so far, 477 has been my favorite so far as analysis and comprehension goes. The first line, “He fumbles at your Soul,” introduces an unnamed entity attempting to access one’s soul, creating a contrast between the more commonly precise interactions typically associated with spiritual experiences and the clumsy, uncertain actions of this being. The speaker then builds intensity through evoking an image of a musician hesitating before playing a piano, suggesting an imminent outpouring of emotion, or in this case, spiritual revelation. This intensity continues to mount as Dickinson prepares the reader’s ” brittle nature” for said revelation (“the etherial Blow”) amidst the sound of “fainter Hammers”, which gets progressively closer and louder as the reader’s “Breath-has time to straighten”. The poem then reaches a climax in the lines “Deals One-imperial Thunderbolt-/That scalps your naked soul-” This vivid imagery of being struck by a thunderbolt implicates a moment of intense enlightenment that is transformative as much as it is overwhelming, capable of even scalping one’s “naked soul”.  The transition to “When Winds hold Forests in their Paws-The Universe-is still-” introduces a moment of utter silence and still, a pause of normal activity in the universe. I’m not quite sure what this means, but I interpreted it as the shock that follows the soul’s profound realization, emphasizing the spiritual depth of the experience. The structure of the poem also accentuates its message, where the irregular meter and usage of dashes creates a rhythmic disruption that mirrors the experiences conveyed: it oscillates between feelings of tense anticipation, jarring shock, and self reflection, capturing the complex emotions at play given such a spiritual encounter. (obviously there’s also the possibility that this wasn’t Dickinson’s intent and it could have just been scribbled without any consideration of formal elements, which opens a whole other discussion of poems with unintentional meaning). After reading this poem the first time, I got the impression that I read something pretty deep, and felt like I should have come away with a more profound understanding, which I guess was the point. This is a poem, which, intentionally or not, leaves the reader contemplating the profound impact such moments can have on one’s consciousness, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. 

Loading Likes... I thoroughly enjoyed the imagery in Dickinson’s poem 656. I was first fascinated by the similarities between poem 466 in which the voice spends time focusing on the allusions to a house. I enjoy the notion of structure and division presented by a house and its floors; the notion of Mermaids in the basement and war ships on the upper floor feels very whimsical. I was curious about the personification of the Tide as Dickinson emphasizes how the sea is male, while I typically think of the ocean and the tide being feminized in literature. I wondered if there could be a sexual interpretation of this poem, as the speaker describes the tide moving around her body and meaning to consume her entirely. However, I found beauty in the final lines: “No One He Seemed to know – / And bowing – with a Mighty look – / At me – The Sea withdrew – “ (Dickinson 22-24). The idea of the sea offering respect despite its might presents a coexistence with the speaker and the natural world. The idea of the ocean becoming timid on solid ground continues the whimsical and puerile nature of the poem.
I think that the speaker’s infusion of childlike whims and qualities to the poem in its imagery and personification of the natural world creates a curious tone throughout. The idea of being perceived by mermaids and ships as well as the tide seems to subvert the experience of going out into nature to observe and appreciate the natural world. Instead, with the speaker as the subject, humans become the focal point of interest among the world in which they inhabit. The idea of the speaker presumed to be a mouse by the “Frigates” possibly reinforces the minute importance of land animals relative to the prowess and might of the sea.
Knowing how inland Amherst is in Massachusetts, I wonder if Dickinson spent much time at all by the sea, and if not, she seems to have nailed the experience of the Massachusetts beaches.

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While many of Dickinson’s poems stand out due to their overt religiosity, “598” struck me in particular. Much of it is dedicated to expounding upon the power and grandiosity of human imagination- represented here as the brain being “wider than the sky” and “deeper than the sea” (1679-1680), with the capacity to hold and absorb any information- but the last stanza specifically runs a comparison between the human mind and God himself. The brain is not more impressive than God, unlike its relationship with the sky and the sea, but it is “just the weight of God” (1680) and differs only as much as a syllable from a sound. 

Oddly, this reads almost like sacrilege. Most theological arguments don’t quite touch on a direct comparison between God and man which places them on the same level. Man might be made in God’s image, but he is not meant to exist as God does, nor should he think himself capable of encompassing everything that God is and can do. That would be an arrogance the likes of which got the Tower of Babel’s builders in such trouble. But Dickinson still draws that connection, and she does it out of love for God. Her dedication to poetry and to creation is akin to godliness; it is a spirituality in and of itself and because it is a product of her imagination, that imagination becomes holy. 

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As I read through Dickinson’s poems, I was continuously fascinated (and confused?) by her thoughts on science and religion. She addressed this theme in multiple poems within the selection for tomorrow’s class, but I found that poem 598 gave me the most clarity about what her actual feelings are about the relationship between science and religion. 

In this poem, she details the wonders of the human brain in relation to the natural world (as a neuroscience major, I can appreciate this). In the first two stanzas she seems to be getting at the idea of the brain being more important or more impressive than vast, important aspects of our world; it’s “wider than the sky,” and can contain all of “You” and all of your knowledge at the same time; it’s “deeper than the sea,” and seemingly absorbs new knowledge with no limit. However, the third stanza adds a new dimension to her argument when it says “the Brain is just the weight of God,” and that they differ like “Syllable from Sound.” Upon first reading this stanza, I thought she was saying that the brain is the same as God (as if the brain is just as impressive as God in her mind or has just as much power or something like that – this was my atheist, scientific brain’s delusional reading of it). She even implied in the line “they will differ – if they do,” that they may not be different at all. However,  in analyzing the poem further, I now think she is trying to say that the Brain is created by God, in the image of God, and therefore, that (it’s God-like nature) is what makes it seemingly superior to other elements of the natural world. Two aspects of the poem made me come to the conclusion. The first is that she says the Brain is the “weight” of God, as if it’s a part of him or connected to him in a way that does not make them equal, but does make the Brain closer to God than other things. Secondly, she says they differ “as syllable from sound,” which I am taking to mean as the brain being a subtype/kind of God in the way that a syllable is a kind of sound. This more nuanced reading of her poem fits more with what I know about Dickinson’s religious life. As much as I would personally love to interpret the poem as saying the Brain is just as important as God, I recognize now that that’s probably not what she meant. 

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I loved reading Emily Dickinson’s poem 466, which seems to be a complex and rich exploration of the power of imagination and creativity. The poem celebrates the freedom and boundlessness of the imaginative mind, contrasting it with the limitations of more conventional ways of thinking. Emily starts by declaring that she “dwells in Possibility,” suggesting that her mind is open to endless potential and creativity, and to me the word”dwells” implies a sense of permanence and deep engagement with this state of mind- for her, possibility is not just a fleeting thought but more like a way of life. The way that she describes imagination as a place where “forbidden feet” have never trod (untouched by the constraints of society or tradition) and contrasts it with the mundane “Chambers” and “Halls” associated with prose and conventional thinking reminded me instantly of some themes from Whitman, and even Emerson. The theme of expansiveness and freedom in imagination could be compared to Emerson’s ideas of the individual’s potential for growth and connection with the universe. I also immediately thought of “Leaves of Grass”, which is often cited as the work that expanded the limits of poetry, and more specifically “Song of Myself” which is notable for its innovative use of free verse, unconventional themes, and celebration of the individual and the universe. On the other hand, in 466, Dickinson is exploring the idea of the imagination as a dwelling place, a realm of infinite possibility. Whitman more often seems to celebrate the external world and the connections between individuals, while Dickinson’s focus is more internal, exploring the depths of the human psyche and mysteries of existence and truth.

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I have encountered Dickinson’s poetry frequently throughout my Literature classes thus far. Particularly in Poetry and Poetics last semester, we spend a good amount of time dissecting her work and the underlying messages hidden within. Something that has always fascinated me about her poetry since then is her unconventional use of capitalization and punctuation.

Starting with capitalization, in the fair majority of Dickinson’s poetry she chooses to capitalize strange words that otherwise wouldn’t be emphasized. The effect has been speculated by innumerable literary scholars. Some believe the capitalization could be a misinterpretation of Dickinson’s penmanship (which her poems were translated from). Others believe the capitalized words are meant to personify a theme painted by Dickinson, as the capitalized words appear to add to the theme of the poem. From either perspective, it’s interesting to consider the intentionality.

Secondly, as I’ve approached Dickinson’s poems I’ve also been drawn to her use of punctuation. She tends to use a lot of dashes ending her sentences and sandwiched between descriptor words. In essence, the dashes definitely aim to set apart specific words and phrases, forcing the reader to slow down while reading and contemplate the lines. However, in some of her poems that she has  formally published during her lifetime, the dashes are used sparingly. This makes me wonder if it was a stylistic choice used for an unfinished poem. The fact that the dashes are absent in some of her more definite poems appears as if they represented her hesitancy for a poem that was still under consideration. Either way, the use of punctuation has an undeniable effect on the rhythm and readability of the poem, ultimately affecting its delivery and the perception of the reader.

-Siena Rose

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Emily Dickinson is not only known for her poetry but also for her decision to remain unmarried. Despite having various lovers and writing about love, Dickinson spent most of her life living under her parents’ roof as a spinster. This fact stood out to me as I was reading poems 194 and 225. Both of these poems mention marriage yet also contrast each other. I found 194 to have a more positive stance on marriage while 225 depicted marriage as a constraint on the life of women. 

Poem 194 reveals Dickinson’s personal relationship to marriage. Despite remaining unmarried, Dickinson considers herself to be married to a higher spiritual being, most likely God. Dickinson writes, “The Wife without the Sign” (Dickinson, 1661). The “sign” implies a marriage certificate/wedding bands or other concrete symbols of marriage. By calling herself a wife without a sign, Dickinson reveals that she recognizes the relationship and responsibility of a marriage without a man to play the part of “groom”. Instead, Dickinson states that she is “Betrothed without the swoon”, hence implying that it is better to be married and commit oneself to a spiritual entity than to a man. Dickinson agrees with the values and commitments of a marriage, but critiques the conventions of women being tied to men through marriage. Dickinson outlines the typical path for 19th-century women by writing, “Born – Bridled – Shrouded – In a Day” (Dickinson, 1661). She emphasizes this lack of freedom that women succumb to when they are married by reiterating that in a day (a wedding ceremony) their path in life is chosen. They are born, they are married, and they die. 

Where Dickinson demonstrates through her “marriage” to a spiritual world or God in poem 194 that she values the theory of marriage, in poem 225, Dickinson further emphasizes her opinion that marriage restrains a woman’s free will. Dickinson writes “How odd the Girl’s life looks Behind this soft Eclipse” (Dickinson, 1662). Dickinson is implying that the role of marriage on a woman is a “soft” or subtle way of covering and restraining her life. In most 19th-century scenarios, she is forced to stand behind a man and serve him instead of living for herself. By describing an eclipse, Dickinson critiques this societal norm. Dickinson ends the poem by exclaiming, “I’m “Wife”! Stop there!” (Dickinson, 1662). The use of exclamation marks in this sentence represents Dickinson’s strong desire to remain unmarried. The idea of being a “wife” forces her to shout “Stop there!” consequently representing her desire to never repress her life through marriage. 

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I really enjoyed reading Emily Dickinson’s poem 225, which presents a speaker who revels in the idea of being “nobody” rather than “somebody”. Overall, the poem seems to be a rejection of societal expectations and pressures to conform to a specific identity or status, and more specifically is challenging what the terms “nobody” and “somebody” and their connotations even really mean. I like the way the poem opens with such a playful tone, inviting the reader to sort of share in the speaker’s anonymity. It suggests right away that those who are “nobody” may actually be much more free or authentic in who they are. She contrasts within the second stanza using “bog” and “frog” vs. “the Admiring bog”. On the one hand, she seems to suggest that those who are seeking fame or recognition have a superficial existence, while those who embrace their anonymity might actually enjoy a more private, real, and deep sense of self. She ends with warning the reader that those like the frog who want to be “public” will actually lose freedom and integrity along the way, and may be stripped of their true identity. It is better to be “an admiring Bog” than a “public frog”. Based on what I know about Emily Dickinson, she was actually virulently opposed to publishing her work and disliked the pressure of her work being under public scrutiny, or of the process of poetry becoming somewhat of a job or something she owed others or the world. In many ways I’m sure this is why she kept most of her poems safe during her lifetime, and I can definitely understand how this portion of her biography and storyline may carry through within the undertones and message of this particular poem. 

 

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While I was reading, the fact that Dickinson never intended most of her poems to be published added an intriguing layer to my understanding of her as a poet. This privacy can be seen as both a reflection of her reclusive lifestyle and a literary strategy that allowed her the freedom to explore complex, unconventional ideas (at the time) without concern for public reaction or editorial influence. This can be seen in her introspection and analysis of her changing womanhood and identity as a married woman in #225, or her subtle critique of worldly power and prestige (Diadems and Doges) amidst the inevitability of death and the absolute isolation of the eternal universe in #124. In this vein, those poems may have been a form of introspection or a means of grappling with concepts that fascinated or troubled her. This could explain the depth of thought, the density of symbolism, and the complexity of themes in her poetry, which continue to warrant analysis and interpretation. To me, her poems are amazing because they are so intensely private yet universally relatable—even though a vast majority was never meant to see the light of day. This makes me consider the essence of poetry and the role of the poet. Is poetry inherently a public art form meant for sharing, or can it also be a private dialogue with oneself? I’d love to know what you all think!

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Out of the selection of Emily Dickinson poetry for Tuesday’s class, Poem 202 stood out to me. I believe that its resonance is mainly because of how impressed I am with it. Only four lines, it packs quite a punch with how much is effectively used in it and the space created for many readers’ interpretations. My first thought after reading the poem was that its meaning derives from the conflict between science and religion or the observable and tangible versus the intangible. While Dickinson seems to be setting up a conflict between faith and microscopes, she uses poetry techniques that seem to unite the two thoughts. For example, the exclamation marks that end each sentence or the slant rhyme between “see” and “emergency” (which are the words that conclude each sentence). Furthermore, she is connecting the two subjects with their roles as visual aids for things that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Instead, this evidence supports a more light-hearted or playful tone for this poem. I am interested to know what she implies by faith being an “invention”, in which the connotation seems to be ambiguous because of the “Gentlemen who see” (2). Who are these Gentlemen? Overall, I feel that she is admiring those that can see spiritually and believe in a power that is not visible, while wittily acknowledging a practical and more convenient/easier example of sight. 

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Although most of Dickinson’s poems were not written with the intent to appeal to the public, many of the core themes she explores are the topics and ideas that seem to be most popular in her time. Throughout this course, we have seen that the 1800s were shaped by war, and a deep, widespread religiousness. 

Likely due to the historical events of the century (the Civil War, the Spanish Civil War), many of the texts we have read  include war or conflict in some form, and Dickinson’s work is no exception. Poem 112 describes a man on the losing side of some conflict dying while hearing cheers of victory in the distance. This reminded me of Whitman’s war poetry, like “Beat Beat Drums“.  Many of Dickinson’s poems reference the beating of drums, possibly a reference to the way the drums of war beat on, irrelevant of the rest of the world. In “I dreaded that first robin so”, the she describes the salute of the flowers and their “unthinking drums”, bringing military terminology into her descriptions of nature.

Most of the texts we have read this semester also contain religious motifs. Particularly the female writers we’ve read (Stowe and Jacobs), seem to write with one of their goals being sharing their faith. Though Dickinson is less explicit about her beliefs or trying to convert her reader, she still includes Biblical allusions in many of her poems. For example, Poem 269 references Eden, Poem 124 references the “members of the Resurrection”, and Poem 320 references “Cathedral Tunes” and “Heavenly Hurt”.  In the poem “I dreaded that first robin so”, Dickinson describes herself as the “Queen of Calvary”. Though the meanings are more obscure, these poems are no exception to the common religious theme of the 19th century.