God gave a loaf to every bird,

God gave a Loaf to every Bird —
But just a Crumb — to Me —
I dare not eat it — tho' I starve —
My poignant luxury —

To own it — touch it —
Prove the feat — that made the Pellet mine —
Too happy — for my Sparrow's chance —
For Ampler Coveting —

It might be Famine — all around —
I could not miss an Ear —
Such Plenty smiles upon my Board —
My Garner shows so fair —

I wonder how the Rich — may feel —
An Indiaman — An Earl —
I deem that I — with but a Crumb —
Am Sovreign of them all —

       - F748, J791, Fascicle 36, 1863

I love the Emily Dickinson poems that show us how appreciating what we have can make us richer than those with worldly riches. My favorite of these is F597, a poem that makes me feel so rich that I’ve committed it to memory. "'Tis little I — could care for Pearls —/ Who own the ample sea —..."

This poem is in that category. It starts off sounding like a complaint:

God gave a loaf to every bird,

But just a crumb to me;

Here Dickinson seems to be playfully conflating Matthew 6:25, the scripture about God feeding the birds, with the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread." It sounds at first like Emily is whining, but she's being arch. She is, in fact, as we shall see, doing the opposite of whining. 

She's only been given a crumb, but says,

I dare not eat it, though I starve,—

This sounds like a riddle. What is a food you dare not eat, even though you starve?

This must not be food we are talking about, but some other kind of sustenance. Different commentators have different opinions about what this crumb symbolizes. Maybe the crumb is Emily's poetic gift? Or maybe Emily is talking about her beloved sister-in-law who is living next door to her and married to her brother, Austin. Austin gets the whole loaf, while Dickinson gets just the occasional crumb. 

But why does Dickinson say that she dare not eat the crumb she is given even though she is starving for more? Maybe Dickinson is making a point here about love? If we devour the one we love, there is nothing left of them. If she is talking about Sue here, then this wisdom paid off. By giving Sue space, Dickinson kept her, albeit next door and married to her brother, for over 30 years. In fact Sue was still there to nurse Emily when she died.

The next lines are a riddle too,

My poignant luxury
To own it, touch it, prove the feat
That made the pellet mine,—

What is a luxury that is poignant?

I think it must  be something beloved that you are afraid to lose.

(I am reminded here of that heart-breaking Ben Jonson line upon the loss of his young son, “My sin was in loving you too much.”)

And what is the "feat" that Emily "proved" to make the pellet hers? The feat, as we see in the following lines, is in not coveting more:

Too happy in my sparrow chance
For ampler coveting.

(We have seen Emily compare herself to a sparrow before. She does so for instance in F121, "Her breast is fit for pearls," another poem that seems to be for Sue.)

The second stanza begins: 

It might be famine all around,

I could not miss an ear,

Whereas the first stanza starts off with plenty, loaves for every bird, this one throws doubt on the first, positing the possibility of famine all around.

The word “ear" in this poem, is doing so much.

I can see so many possible meanings of it here. The first meaning I suspect is “ear of grain.” She has her crumb, her pellet, her “ear” of grain, and she could not, will not, miss it, even if there is famine all around. She WILL find it. 

And what is this famine all around? What is Emily talking about? Is the famine a spiritual one? A romantic one? A literal one? I think she is likely referring to the general dearth of love in the world.

Emily links her grain, her food, her nutrients, to the ear, and, therefore, to the act of listening. She could not miss listening. This is the fullness of love. "If music be the food of love, play on." Shakespeare.

And in this second sense of "ear," what does the poet hear? This line points backward to the line before it. She hears, “It might be famine all around.”

She is listening to the lack all around her, possibly to the literal lack, to the fact that there are plenty of birds (and people) out there with no loaf at all, not even a crumb, literally starving. She is listening to the poor and destitute.

Or she could be listening to the spiritually poor; those who have loaves aplenty, but cannot be content.

The “ear” could be for hearing the line following this one as well,

Such plenty smiles upon my board,

Here is your endlessly fulfilling little morsel, says Emily. There is famine everywhere, especially among the rich, but I, who appear poor, am truly rich beyond compare. And so are you, if you share my board with  me.

There is another sexy-cute possibility for "ear" here, the ear of a lover.

You may have your riches, but I have my little portion, my person, and I’m not going to miss an ear when loving him/her.

I’m sure there are many other interpretations of what “I would not miss an ear” might mean. It’s an extremely rich line in this poem because of the conflation of ear of grain with human ear. (Oddly the etymological derivation of ear of grain and human ear seem to be completely unrelated.)

 
I imagine Emily liked the idea of grains that can hear. In one of her most famous poems, “Because I could not stop for death” we encounter grains that can see: "I passed the gazing grain.” Our food senses us.

The final meaning of ear must be tuned to the poem itself. It hears itself. The crumb might not represent a person at all, but the morsel of sensual music in the poem itself. Listen to the music, for instance, of the airy double rhyme Dickinson gives us for "ear":

Her garner shows so fair. 

"Garner" is defined as a gathering of grain. It is a "fair" (beautiful) gathering of poetic grain the poet has upon her board, upon which we are now feasting.

I wonder how the rich may feel,—
An Indiaman—an Earl?
I deem that I with but a crumb
Am sovereign of them all.

Emily knows how rich she truly is, richer than all the earls and Indiamen. The Dickinson lexicon defines Indiaman as: One in the shipping business; man involved in the East India Company; [fig.] millionaire; rich person.

Dickinson points to both old wealth, represented by the Earl, and new wealth, represented by the Indiaman, neither of which have the true wealth that the poet does. She reigns sovereign. 

Hear that says the supreme ear of the poem.

           -/)dam Wade l)eGraff

The Artist is listening