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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.
4 thoughts on “Dickinson on the Beach!”
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I really like your interpretation of lines 5-8, where Dickinson emphasizes the might of the sea in comparison with the poem’s narrator who is “a mouse –/aground – opon the Sands -” (7-8). While reading this poem, I had picked out the line, “But no Man moved Me — till the Tide” (9). Here, there is a similar emphasis on the natural world’s power. Literally, the next few stanzas depict either someone walking into the ocean or being swept out by the ocean. Yet, in a figurative way, the next few stanzas seem to emphasize (as you mention) some kind of personal relationship with nature. Furthermore, this line that I selected seems to indicate that there is an absence is humankind that only nature can make up/fill. Back to your point, maybe, the tide is able to move the character because of its overwhelming power, or possibly, the whimsical language (or as you say, our character being the focus of the sea’s interest) is symbolic of the alluring nature of the sea to this character. It is not entirely clear, which only adds to the overall mysterious/ambiguous nature of this character’s relationship with the natural world.