tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post3298877077935085995..comments2024-03-28T14:04:54.557-07:00Comments on the prowling Bee: Some, too fragile for winter windsSusan Kornfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-28500644621267023962024-02-29T01:26:41.634-08:002024-02-29T01:26:41.634-08:00To me it looks like Emily is identifying with the ...To me it looks like Emily is identifying with the dead children and tries to find some comfort in her fantasy about a cozy grave. She herself is fragile, oversensitive, her suffering is “unnoticed by the Father”. In F570 she sees herself as a creature of heavenly love forgot. Susan K. writes „Dickinson doesn’t seem convinced of the Bible tales’ applicability to actual children.“ I would say ED is not convinced that the tales apply to her.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-24899679557673936012022-06-25T16:28:57.074-07:002022-06-25T16:28:57.074-07:00‘Some, too fragile for winter winds’, F91, continu...‘Some, too fragile for winter winds’, F91, continues ED’s theme of doubt about God’s benevolence, which she also expressed in F84, ‘On such a night, or such a night, and F85, ‘Whose are the little beds, I asked’. Given 19th century fundamentalism in western Massachusetts and her family’s prominence in Amherst society, ED relied on ambiguity to avoid alienating parents, brother Austin, and possibly future poetry fans. These comments on F84, F85, & F91 express my admiration for ED’s courage and honesty.<br /><br />F84….. The closing lines leave me feeling depressed. What kind of God would doom a little girl to such pointless existence? Maybe that’s what ED wanted me to feel; maybe that’s what ED felt after watching too many children die.<br /><br />F85….. Why doesn’t an omniscient God know who’s sleeping in those small beds? ….. Apparently, ED thinks a loving God would not let those children die so pointlessly. Perhaps that’s why God doesn’t know who’s sleeping in those “little beds”; He doesn’t care.<br /><br />F91 ….. To understand ‘Some, too fragile for winter winds’, it’s helpful to know that (1) the west window of ED’s 2nd-floor bedroom/office overlooked Amherst’s West Cemetery, giving her a balcony seat for every funeral. ED and Carlo, her Newfoundland bodyguard and gift from her father, took frequent walks together that must have included West Cemetery. And (2), the ED Lexicon defines “covert” as “shelter; sanctuary; asylum; safe place; protected location” and “fold” as “sheltered group; haven” (https://edl.byu.edu/lexicon).<br /><br />Stanzas 1 and 2 reassure us that the graveyard provides safe haven for those too weak to survive vicissitudes of life, whether disease or winter wind, and where schoolboys and sportsmen will not disturb their sleep. Then things turn dark. <br /><br />Stanza 3 starkly asserts that many children sleep in this “covert”, some very young and often “cold” (poor). Metaphorically, they are sparrows unnoticed by God, lambs too young to know their “fold” (families). Contrary to Matthew 10:27-31 and Luke 12:6, their Father has forgotten them.<br />Larry Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-60994448580000200792021-04-17T04:07:38.817-07:002021-04-17T04:07:38.817-07:00I think so this poem tells about those kids who di...I think so this poem tells about those kids who died at an early age but sparrow and lamb also showcase the Christian belief somehow I think so Emily was asking the question through the poem to god how could you ignore the Sparrow and lambs and even Your son for being sacrificed because you are the lord you can each and everything for saving your own kids life and another side of this is very sorrowful it might be possible that in this poem she mourned for Jesus to not got the warmness of the grave. This is my opinion according to Christianity belief.Urooba fatimahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00683849183077230373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-83224526203983010912020-12-12T14:56:20.467-08:002020-12-12T14:56:20.467-08:00A farthing is a quarter of a penny in the old Engl...A farthing is a quarter of a penny in the old English money, related to the word “fourth”.Robin Cooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06335324252360372642noreply@blogger.com