Tho'
I get home how late – how late –
So
I get home – 'twill compensate –
Better
will be the Ecstasy
That
they have done expecting me –
When
Night – descending – dumb – and dark –
They
hear my unexpected knock –
Transporting
must the moment be –
Brewed
from decades of Agony!
To
think just how the fire will burn –
Just
how long-cheated eyes will turn –
To
wonder what myself will say,
And
what itself, will say to me –
Beguiles
the Centuries of way!
F199
(1861) 207
This
one is a head scratcher, primarily because we begin with a traveler seemingly
anticipating a joyous reunion with loved ones he or she hasn’t seen in “decades.”
The loved ones, who will have “Ecstasy” at the reunion after “decades of Agony,”
are simply referred to as “they.” The puzzlement occurs in the penultimate line
of the second stanza when the traveler wonders “what itself, will say to me – ”.
‘Scuse me? Itself? That mysterious line is followed by one equally mysterious: “Beguiles
the Centuries of way!” In other words, the traveler has been killing time for
centuries imagining what some reunion with either “them” or “it” will be like. It
makes the reader start the poem over, this time casting aside preconceptions.
The
whole poem makes sense if we convert the “it” to “God” ( and even more sense if
we convert “it” to the Devil!). We
have seen that Dickinson could be irreverent for her day and that she thinks
independently in religion. It is conceivable, then, that she might toy with the
notion that God may not have a gender as humans conceive gender. Let’s just go
with that interpretation and see if everything hangs together: The narrator has
been waiting for a long, long time in her grave. (We have seen this sort of
conscious waiting within tombs in other poems.) When she finally gets “home” to
heaven, those who had hoped to see her had given up, they had “done expecting
me.” But finally when the Night of the world is falling, the narrator finally
gets to go knock on the door of heaven. Because they will have given up hope
(Dickinson did not take the Christian pledge as did her friends and family
during a religious revival in Amherst; neither did she attend church. No doubt
some people did worry about her soul finding its way to heaven), they are
ecstatic to hear her knock. She herself will be transported with joy after all
the agony of the tomb, but just getting to heaven, finally,” ‘twill compensate”
for everything.
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The prodigal son was wel- comed back with feasts and great joy. He'd been given up for lost. |
There
will be a cheery fire burning, just as a warm welcome on earth includes a warm
fire if it is cold outside. Dickinson sometimes uses “fire” to indicate splendor
and glory, so she may be sketching the glorious brilliance of heaven. She has
been waiting for centuries for this moment, wondering what in the world she is
going to say and what her Creator will say to her!
Now
if we take the view that “itself” refers to the Devil, several loose ends
become tidied up: “dumb,” “dark” “Night” would be the blackness of descending
to hell. The fires of hell are burning, but within there are people who have
been expecting the poet. Finally, it is fitting to refer to the Devil as “it,” as
it is degrading; it is also considered bad luck to say his name.
But
I reject that interpretation simply because there is too much ecstasy and
beguilement going on.
The
poem is written in iambic tetrameter and rhymed couplets. This adds to an
essentially light-hearted touch to what otherwise might seem a very serious poem.
When I correct college essays the most irritating word is always "it"! The pronoun is incredibly vague - especially when there is no antecedent. Emily is guilty of the same in this poem, and when a word like God is substituted the poem's meaning seems less Emily's and more mine. The poem has a strange ending and carries an almost vindictive note. I prefer substituting Devil simply because of "fire" and my desire to see some people burn on the other side.
ReplyDeleteIt's about death as a long anticipated ecstatic release.
DeleteIt's about sex as a long anticipated ecstatic release.
How is this at all fucking complicated?
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ReplyDeleteCurious comma after “itself”. Perhaps “wonder what I will say and what that itself (whatever I say) will say (mean) to me”. This might fit with the interpretation relating to her lack of religious activity. How when she returns will she explain it to the others and what will that explanation mean for her. Like saying something that you know will be interpreted by others in a different way to how you interpret it, in order to be included while still maintaining your own private view of the truth.
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