When the Astronomer stops seeking

When the Astronomer stops seeking
For his Pleiad's Face—
When the lone British Lady
Forsakes the Arctic Race

When to his Covenant Needle
The Sailor doubting turns—
It will be amply early
To ask what treason means.
           

   

     -F957, J851, sheet 20, 1865

The poem is like the assurance a mother gives to her child. The child says "Mommy, will you always love me?" The mother, to assure the child, says, "I'll love you until pigs fly and the cow jumps over the moon.” Or think of the lyrics to the great Brian Wilson song, God Only Knows,

I may not always love you 

But long as there are stars above you 

You never need to doubt it 

I'll make you so sure about it

It’s an old trope, but Dickinson takes it to the next level. She gives three examples of impossibilities that will happen before she'll turn traitor, each with far-reaching implications. The first extends all the way into space,

When the Astronomer stops seeking
For his Pleiad's Face—

In F803 we looked at a poem with a similar idea:  

My Secret as secure
As Herschel's private interest
Or Mercury's affair—

***

The astronomer. Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel lived from 1738 – 1822. He published his discoveries as three catalogues: Catalogue of One Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, Catalogue of a Second Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars and, finally, Catalogue of 500 New Nebulae.

While making his observations Herschel made note of a new object in the constellation of Gemini. He called the new planet the "Georgian star" after King George III. In France, where reference to the British king was to be avoided if possible, the planet was known as "Herschel.” Eventually the planet was given the name of Uranus and because of it, Herschel became famous.

Herschel also pioneered astronomical and spectrophotometry using prisms and temperature measuring equipment to measure the wavelength distribution of stellar spectra through which he discovered infrared radiation.  

He discovered Titania and Oberon (moons of Uranus), Enceladus and Mimas (moons of Saturn) and the fact that Martian polar caps vary seasonally.

Herschel was sure that he had found ample evidence of life on the Moon and compared it to the English countryside. Herschel went so far as to speculate that the interior of the Sun was populated.

But Herschel had other notable “private interests.” His father was a court oboist and he followed suit, mastering the oboe and then violin and harpsichord. He composed numerous musical works, including 24 symphonies and many concertos.

 In 1766 Herschel became organist of the Octagon Chapel a fashionable chapel in a well-known spa in Bath.

Herschel's epitaph is: Coelorum perrupit claustra (He broke through the barriers of the heavens).

Friedrich Herschel had a son, John Herschel, 1782 - 1871, who was even more accomplished than his father. It is most likely John Herschel that Dickinson is thinking of here.

Sir John Herschel, like his father, was an English polymath; a mathematician, astronomer, chemist, botanist and experimental photographer who invented the blueprint. He originated the use of the Julian day system in astronomy, named seven moons of Saturn and four moons of Uranus, the seventh planet, discovered by his father. He made many contributions to the science of photography. John Herschel also translated the Iliad of Homer. He was friends with Tennyson, Dickens, Darwin, Faraday and many other luminaries of his day.

You could say he elevated astronomy to the level of art and it is in keeping that in the poem at hand, Dickinson has him searching for the Pleiad’s Face. 

In this line you see the man of science peering into the mysterious realm of love and mythology, a teleological bridge between man and the heavens. 

***

The Pleiades. "Pleiades" derives from the ancient Greek word plein (to sail'), because of the cluster's importance in opening the sailing season in the Mediterranean Sea. 

The Pleiades are the seven divine daughters of the Goddess Pleiō,. No one knows which came first, the word for sailing, Plein, or the name of the Goddess, Pleiō, but somehow the two merged to become the Pleiades and the season of navigation began with their heliacal rising in the heavens.

The Pleiades were companions of Artemis, a virgin Goddess over whom Aphrodite had no power, protector of children, especially girls, and animal cubs. Together they were nursemaids and teachers of the infant Dionysus. 

Enter the bad guy, Orion, who pursued the Pleiades, until Zeus saved them by turning them into doves, and then catasterizing them into stars. In the Odyssey, Odysseus sees Orion hunting in the underworld with a bronze club, slaying animals, which gives yo a sense of his character. It’s also worth noting that he was known as the most handsome of the earth-born, so basically a good looking lady-killer. 

Meanwhile Orion was also turned into a constellation by Zeus, destined to always chase, in place, the Pleiades through the night sky. It’s a constant reminder in the sky to all young lady-killers. This is what happens, boys!

Like Orion, the astronomer is destined to always pursue the lost sister across the sky. 

***

Which of the seven Pleiades in particular is the "Pleiad's face" the astronomer looking for? 

Merope.

The loss of one of the sisters, Merope, reflects an astronomical event wherein one of the stars in the Pleiades star cluster disappears from view by the naked eye. 

Merope was said to be the faintest of the stars, the "lost Pleiad", because she was the only one of the Pleiades to have married a mortal. 

Her sisters had relations with gods and bore them sons, but Merope married the mortal, Sisyphus, and lived on the island Chios. 

If Sisyphus represents mortal man, what does that say about us? Check out his resume: Sisyphus was the founder and first king of Corinth. While king, Sisyphus was supposed to make Ancient Corinth a travel hub and a leader in navigation, but instead he infuriated Zeus by killing all guests to his palace in violation of the xenia. (Xenia is the ancient law of hospitality to strangers, and the root of term xenophobia.)

Likewise, Sisyphus and his brother Salmoneus were known to hate each other, and Sisyphus consulted the Oracle of Delphi on just how to kill Salmoneus without incurring any of severe consequences for himself. From Homer onward, Sisyphus was famed as the craftiest of men. He seduced Salmoneus's daughter Tyro, which eventually led Tyro to slay their children when she discovered that Sisyphus was planning on using them to eventually dethrone her father. Eek.

Sisyphus also is said to have betrayed one of Zeus's secrets by revealing the whereabouts of the Asopid Aegina to her father, the river god Asopus, in return for creating an Eternal spring to flow on the Corinthian acropolis.

Zeus ordered Thanatos to chain Sisyphus in Tartarus. But Sisyphus sensed him coming, and seized the opportunity to trap Thanatos himself in chains instead. This caused an uproar because once Thanatos was bound by the strong chains, then no one could die on Earth. Consequently, sacrifices could not be made to the gods, and therefore those that were old and sick suffered. 

The gods finally threatened to make life so miserable for Sisyphus that he would wish he were dead, so then he had no choice but to release Thanatos.

Before dying himself, Sisyphus instructed Merope not to perform the customary funeral rites for him. When he reached the underworld, he complained to Hades that his wife was neglecting him, and obtained permission to return to the upper world in order to reproach her. What a trickster! 

Once back in Corinth, Sisyphus did not return to the underworld and lived until he died of old age. In a later tradition, reported by Eustathius, Hermes forcibly carried him back down. (Kicking and screaming I'd imagine).

Eventually, as we all know, he was damned to endlessly push a rock back up to the top of a hill, a fate, according to Camus, not so unlike that of mankind's. 

***

Okay, so that’s the first example! Let’s look at the next one:

When the lone British Lady
Forsakes the Arctic Race

Like the implied reference to Herschel, this is also a wry reference to a mythic figure of the times.

The lone British Lady: Lady Jane Franklin (née Griffin, 1791 – 1875) was a British explorer and the second wife of the English explorer Sir John Franklin. During her husband's period as Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land), she became known for her philanthropic work and her travels throughout south-eastern Australia. After John Franklin's disappearance in search of the Northwest Passage, she sponsored or otherwise supported several expeditions to determine his fate.

The  “Race” that Jane won’t forsake, then, is not the one to find the Northwest Passage first, but the one to save her husband who was lost in the pursuit. 

A bit more on this fascinating character of Lady Jane. As a young woman, Jane was attracted to a London physician and scientist, Peter Mark Roget, best known for publishing Roget's Thesaurus. She once said he was the only man who made her swoon, but nothing ever came of the relationship. 

On 5 November 1828 Jane married the explorer John Franklin. Not long after John Franklin was appointed governor of Tasmania, an island off the coast of Australia, where, in 1842, Lady Jane commissioned a classical temple, and named it Ancanthe, Ancient Greek for "blooming valley." She intended the building to serve as a museum for Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, and left 400 acres in trust to ensure the continuance of what she hoped would become the focus of the colony's cultural aspirations. A century of apathy followed, with the museum used as an apple shed among other functions, but in 1949 it was made the home of The Art Society of Tasmania, who rescued the building. It is now known as the Lady Franklin Gallery. This early investment into Tasmanian art has erupted as of late into one the best art scenes in the world. "Blooming valley" indeed. Dark Mofo is an annual mid-winter arts and culture festival held by the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania. Launched in 2013 Dark Mofo events take place at night and celebrate the darkness of the southern winter solstice, featuring many musical acts, large scale light installations and a winter feast. I met some people recently who live in Tasmania and they told me Dark Mofo was not to be missed.

Then things went awry in Tasmania for the Franklins. Wikipedia has it that in August a Sir John Yardley-Wilmot arrived in Tasmania announcing that he was the new appointed governor of Tasmania. Apparently, John Montagu, who had served as colonial secretary to John Franklin, but had been dismissed for his antagonism and insubordination towards Sir John, had returned to Britain with stories publicized in the British newspapers about their bad leadership. Montagu also accused John Franklin of being ruled by his wife, a claim that was believed by the Undersecretary of State for the Colonies James Stephen and Lord Stanley, who then ordered a recall of Sir Franklin.

This meant that Lady Franklin and Sir John had to leave their home quite hastily and sell many of their possessions and return to England. They would arrive in Britain the following year, and the Franklins set about to restore their tarnished reputation.

This was done, of course, by Lady Franklin, who was crafty as Sisyphus. Lady Franklin authored a book under the name of her husband defending his actions titled "Narrative of Some Passages in the History of Van Diemen's Land," which was a best seller and not only helped redeem (whitewash?) Sir Franklin's reputation, but also brought in a fortune.

Shortly after their arrival Sir John had applied to being in charge of leading a polar expedition in search of the Northwest passage. He won the commission and left in 1845, but, alas, never returned.

Lady Franklin traveled to Out Stack in the Shetland Islands of Scotland, the northernmost of the British isles, to get as close as she could to her missing husband. She sponsored SEVEN expeditions to find her husband or his records (two of the expeditions failed to even reach the Arctic).

By means of sponsorship and offers of sizeable rewards for information about him, she supported many other searches. Her efforts made the expedition's fate one of the biggest stories of the decade.

Ultimately, in 1859, Francis McClintock found evidence that Sir John had died twelve years previously, in 1847. Prior accounts had suggested that, in the end, the expedition had turned to cannibalism to survive, but Lady Franklin refused to believe these stories.

Although McClintock had found conclusive evidence that Sir John Franklin and his fellow expeditioners were dead, Lady Franklin remained convinced that their written records might remain buried in a cache in the Arctic. She provided financial support for multiple later expeditions that planned to seek the records in the 1860s.

Finally, in 1874, she joined forces with Allen Young to purchase and fit out the former steam gunboat HMS Pandora to undertake another expedition to the region around Prince of Wales Island. The expedition left London in June 1875 and returned in December, unsuccessful, as ice prevented her from passing west of the Franklin Strait. Lady Franklin died in the interim, on 18 July 1875. Many "Old Arctics" engaged in the Franklin searches were at her funeral. 

This woman had staying power! You see what Dickinson was getting at.

***

Okay, so that will do for the second example. How about the third,

When to his Covenant Needle
The Sailor doubting turns—

Note that the motif of sailing behind the first two examples comes to an apotheosis here, where Dickinson takes it into the metaphysical realm. The longing of the astronomer and the loyalty of the lone Lady has fallen into doubt. In doubt the sailor turns to the Covenant Needle of the compass. The Covenant referred to here, I believe, would be the Christian Covenant, the sacred binding promise from God to forgive sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The sailor, lost, doubting himself and his circumstances, turns to follow the Covenant Needle toward True North.

***

When all of these things happen? Then...

It will be amply early
To ask what treason means.

Look at all Dickinson accomplishes with that odd construction of "It will be amply early/ to ask..." 

First of all you get the funny sound of “amply early.” That sound adds to the slightly comical tone of the poem.

You also get a Dickinsonian paradox. If the betrayal never arrives, then the idea of "amply early” is ridiculous. What does early matter in the course of “never”?

But the paradox points toward something telling. "Amply early" subtly implies that it's NEVER too early to ask what treason means. Forget eternity, or even tomorrow, the betrayal may have already happened and you’re a little late on the uptake. You should've started, like, yesterday, "amply early." If you take the poem this way, it isn't about faithfulness at all, but about gullibility. This idea may be echoed in the seed planted in the sailor's "doubt" in the first half of this stanza.

As per usual, Dickinson allows room for both a positive and negative charge in the poem. 

.

  -/)dam Wade l)eGraff

P.S. Many thanks to Wikipedia and all of its busy bees for the many facts included in this essay. We are indebted.

P.P.S. To add to the interesting etymology of Pleiades in "Plein" and "Pleio," we also have a more poetic possibility: “flock of doves.” The Greek word pleiades has been connected with peleiai, meaning “doves," which of course is what the sisters were turned into before they became stars.

P.P.P.S. The Greek poet Hesiod mentions the Pleiades several times in Works and Days. Here is a bit of advice from Hesiod:

And if longing seizes you for sailing the stormy seas,
when the Pleiades flee mighty Orion
and plunge into the misty deep
and all the gusty winds are raging,
then do not keep your ship on the wine-dark sea
but, as I bid you, remember to work the land.

— Works and Days 618–623

The poet Sappho mentions the Pleiades in one of her poems:

The moon has gone
The Pleiades gone
In dead of night
Time passes on
I lie alone

The poet Lord Tennyson, who was friends with the astronomer John Herschel as well as Lady Jane, mentions the Pleiades in his poem "Locksley Hall" from 1842. This poem is one Emily would have surely read. :

Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising through the mellow shade,
Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.