EMILY DICKINSON A NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICAN POETESS Dr. Shashi Khurana
Historical Background The study of Emily Dickinson shifts our concerns to poetry of another milieu and specifically to the poetry of a woman amidst the ethos of a new world. Mid nineteenth century America is associated with the Civil War (1861-65) which posed a grave threat to the unity and cohesion of the nation. The civil war ended in the victory of the northern states of the nation and defeat of the southern states. The passion aroused by the civil war led to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the eighteenth President of the Union. The spirit of American Democracy, the glorification of the ideals of liberty, fraternity and equality were sung by mainstream poets like Walt Whitman. Emily Dickinson, was, however, preoccupied with the plight of the individual, particularly a woman, brought up in Puritanism dominated New England. The influence and impact of nineteenth century English Romanticism was an important source for the growth of Dickinson's writing and thoughts. 1.2 The Poetess and her Poetry (1830-1886) Emily Dickinson was the daughter of Edward Dickinson who was a prominent lawyer of Amherst, Massachusetts and Emily Norcoss. Since her mother became a bed-ridden invalid, Emily Dickinson confessed she had no mother. It was Edward Dickinson, her strong and
dominating father, who became both father and mother to the child. He was such a stern and authoritarian father that he didn't permit Emily Dickinson to study at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for more than a year (1847-48). Edward Dickinson believed that too much education was not becoming for a young woman. It led to the growth of female assertiveness and also caused a kind of discord and dissension in the family. Therefore, there is no wonder that Edward Dickinson also commanded his daughter not to go out of the Homestead which he had re-purchased in 1855. As a young woman, Emily Dickinson asserted that she wouldn't go out of the Homestead ever. She even refused to go to the church which all women, old and young, were encouraged to visit. Thus began a life of utmost seclusion and introversion for young Emily Dickinson. She was, however, attached to her brother Austin and his wife Sue. She also cultivated a number of intense intellectual companions. The first of them was Benjamin F. Newton who was a law student in her father's office. It was he who introduced her to many stimulating books and authors and also urged her to take seriously her vocation as a poet. It was Benjamin Newton who introduced her to the writings of Emily and Charlotte Bronte and also to the writings of a feminist Lydia Maria Child. The young man also presented to Emily Dickinson a copy of Emerson's poetry in 1849 just two years alter publication. Walt Whitman, the celebrated poet was, however, considered too immoral, and wicked a poet for a young woman like Emily Dickinson. The early death of her first literary mentor was a great shock to the young woman and one can understand the rationale behind her lifelong preoccupation with death. Later on, she developed an intense relationship with Reverend Charles Wadsworth of Philadelphia whom she met in 1854. She began to regard the priest as her “dearest earthly friend” and in her early poetry she created the image of the lover whom she knew only through her imagination. Wadsworth's removal to San Francisco in 1882 marked a turning point in Emily Dickinson's life. From 1862 onwards her withdrawal from the life of the Puritan community in New England was nearly absolute and critics are of the view that from 1862 to 1865 there was a remarkable upsurge of her creativity as a poet. Since her poems were not meant for publication and were only her “letters to the world,” it is not possible to date them with any degree of accuracy. Yet, there is adequate evidence that during 1862-1865 Emily Dickinson wrote nearly three hundred of her approximately 1700 and odd poems. Although the publication of her poems was far from her mind, Emily Dickinson, however, had a budding poet's craving to find out if her poems were alive. On April 15, 1862 she wrote a letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a professional man of letters to find out whether her verses “breathed.” Higginson had been a Unitarian minister in Worcester who
had resigned from the church and taken up writing literary criticism as a career. He had written the “Letter to a young contributor” as the lead article in the Atlantic Monthly for April. Emily Dickinson sent a couple of unsigned poems to Higginson and wanted to know if her poems had genuine literary worth. Higginson sent her a reply, asking her to send some more poems, inquiring her age, her reading, her companions and further details about her writing. However, Higginson's advice to James Fields, the editor of the Atlantic, was that the poems were not good enough for publication. They were too raw and fragile to be published in a popular venture like the Atlantic. Emily Dickinson, however, continued to exchange letters with her third literary mentor. The conventional literary taste of Higginson strengthened her resolve to keep her poems unpublished. She went on writing feverishly and kept her poems in packets—away even from the eyes of her brother Austin and sister Lavinia. She went on writing in her own unconventional way and the absence of the response of readers gave her the freedom to stick to her individual style. She was, however, indebted to Higginson for the intellectual companionship and invited him to Amherst. She wrote to him, “you were not aware,” she said, “that you saved my Life. To thank you in person has been since then one of my few requests.” (Introduction to the poems of Emily Dickinson).
341 After Great Pain After great pain, a formal feeling comes— The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs— The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore, And Yesterday, or Centuries before? The Feet, mechanical, go round— Of Ground, or Air, or Ought— A Wooden way Regardless grown, A Quartz contentment, like a stone— This is the Hour of Lead— Remembered, if outlived, As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow— First—Chill—then Stupor—then the letting go– 2.1 Paraphrase The poem describes a moment of great pain and suffering such as the time after the loss of a loved one. There are pointers towards the loss being due to death as there are references to tombs. The poem begins at a moment immediately after such a loss. The first feeling is of such shock that the nerves become numb, and it feels almost as though you are paralyzed. The ‘formal feeling’ indicates an absence of feeling, a state of shock. The heart too becomes stiff with intense pain and you wonder whether the capitol ‘He’ is a reference here to Christ who felt the same pain at His crucifixion. The mind wonders whether that happened yesterday or centuries before. You are in a state of stupor. In the second stage of grief the poem describes the mechanical nature in which one starts to move after a short time has passed. The feet walk around automatically without even knowing whether they walk on ground or air and unknowingly they move where they ‘ought’ to move. They move in a wooden way themselves feel like stone and a calm comes over them. 2. T
1. What does the poem describe? 2. What is the meaning of ‘formal feeling’? 3. What is meant by ‘nerves sit ceremonious?’ 4. What does the metaphor of tombs indicate? 5. What does the use of dashes indicate in the poem? 6. What is the poet describing in the last stanza of the poem?
