The Heaven we chase,
Like the June Bee—before the School Boy,
Invites the Race—
Stoops—to an easy Clover—
Dips—evades—teases—deploys—
Then—to the Royal Clouds
Lifts his light Pinnace—
Heedless of the Boy—
Staring—bewildered—at the mocking sky –
Homesick for steadfast Honey—
Ah, the Bee flies not
That brews that rare variety!
F304
(1862) 319
Dickinson is not primarily religious in her poetic searchings although
she explores themes of death and metaphysics. She occasionally, as noted in some
previous poems, skewers the Calvinist doctrines of her time—sometimes bitterly
and sometimes almost playfully. In this poem, one of my favourites, Heaven
teases us like a bee that we think we might catch. It evades us and then mocks
our futile efforts.
The
poem begins by declaring that our most important “Dream,” the one “nearest” our
heart, is always receding, just out of our reach. The second line clarifies
that this dream is heaven. We “chase” heaven through our religious practices:
going to church, praying, reading sacred texts, and imagining we were there.
Dickinson
makes the analogy of heaven as a bee (we have seen her use the bee as a symbol
for God before) and heaven-seekers as school boys trying to capture it.
Our dream—that heaven is “steadfast” like the honey
that remains amber and sweet in its jar—will forever torment us by being
unobtainable. That bee does not make that honey. Or if there is honey, it
cannot be relied upon.
As
Dickinson sees it, heaven intends this frustration. It “Invites the Race” then “evades—teases”
and disappears in its pinnace (light, seaworthy sailboat) into the clouds
(recall some other recent poems where Dickinson reverses the sea and sky: here,
here,
and here,
for example) Lest there be any
doubt of intentionality, the sky mocks our failure to catch the bee. It mocks
as we stare “bewildered” up at the heavens.
It’s
not a very flattering picture of heaven. Surely it should be doing everything
it can to help us find our way there. But that’s not the wisdom Dickinson is
sharing with us. If we are looking to capture an alluring bee, if we are
wanting a constant—“steadfast”—source of sweet goodness, we will be
disappointed. If we chase it, the Dream will always recede. Sounds a bit
Zen-ish, no?
It’s
possible that Dickinson isn’t limiting the Dream to heaven in the Christian
sense. “Heaven” may just be standing in for our hearts’ desires. That makes the
poem a bit more negative. There is no steadfast joy. There is no chasing after
and catching our dreams. We must instead be content to watch them dart and
swoop about always teasing us.
The poem begins in a stately iambic pentameter lengthened by the long “e”
sounds: nearest, Dream, recedes, unrealized.
Subsequent lines fall into whatever meter suits the poet. The third line
emphasizes the opponents by long-vowel spondees: “June Bee” and “School Boy.” The
pace picks up to mimic the darting bee with the dancing verbs: Stoops, dips,
evades, teases, deploys.
Dickinson
uses only one perfect rhyme, “chase” with “Race.” Throughout the rest of the
poem she experiments with sounds that link to each other more than rhyme:
Boy
/ deploys / Boy / sky
chase
/ Race / Pinnace
Clover
/ Clouds
Boy
/ sky / Honey / variety
The whole poem
reads fluidly and reflects the thought units: slow when reflective and dancing
when motion is described
"Surely it [Heaven] should be doing everything it can to help us find our way there."
ReplyDeleteWhere does this entitlement comes from? Heaven doesn't owe anything to anybody.
"“Heaven” may just be standing in for our hearts’ desires. That makes the poem a bit more negative. There is no steadfast joy."
That also makes the poem a bit more positive. There is no steadfast sorrow.
Siddhartha’s conundrum of time - there is no time. Once one realizes that, then each moment -joy or sorrow - is but a moment in time, like trying to hold to a point in the river - you can’t.
DeleteI found this discussion so helpful. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteObrigada!
ReplyDeleteTo me your Emily Dickenson blog is one of the great redeeming features of the internet. I love it so much
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Delete