Wert Thou but ill—that I might show thee

Wert Thou but ill—that I might show thee
How long a Day I could endure
Though thine attention stop not on me
Nor the least signal, Me assure—

Wert Thou but Stranger in ungracious country—
And Mine—the Door
Thou paused at, for a passing bounty—
No More—

Accused—wert Thou—and Myself—Tribunal—
Convicted—Sentenced—Ermine—not to Me
Half the Condition, thy Reverse—to follow—
Just to partake—the infamy—

The Tenant of the Narrow Cottage, wert Thou—
Permit to be
The Housewife in thy low attendance
Contenteth Me—

No Service hast Thou, I would not achieve it—
To die—or live—
The first—Sweet, proved I, ere I saw thee—
For Life—be Love—


     -Fr821, J961, 1864


I go to poetry for both its beauty and its truth, and I go to Emily Dickinson’s poetry in particular because she takes me deeper into both than any other poet I've read. With every poem, I’m trying to glean what it has to say to me.

In this poem, and the one preceding it, Fr819, love is put to the test. Both lead me to question my own ability to love. I'm like a rank amateur compared to Dickinson, like a HS basketball player next to Michael Jordan. But just like having Michael Jordan as a rolemodel makes you a better ball player, having Emily Dickinson as one makes you a better lover.

In Fr819 it is impressed upon us that just a little from those we love can go a very long way. In the poem at hand, we come to understand just what a very long way means.

Some of the language is difficult in this poem, so let's break it down stanza by stanza.

Wert Thou but ill—that I might show thee
How long a Day I could endure
Though thine attention stop not on me
Nor the least signal, Me assure—

Were you ill, so that I could show you how long of a day of caretaking I could endure, even if you paid no attention to me, even if you gave me no sign of reassurance at all...

Note that the "if" statement set up by that "Wert Thou" is not yet resolved by a "then" statement. It will not come until the end of the poem.

Wert Thou but Stranger in ungracious country—
And Mine—the Door
Thou paused at, for a passing bounty—
No More—

If you were a stranger in an unfriendly land and it was my door you stopped at for charity as you were passing through, and nothing more than that...

Accused—wert Thou—and Myself—Tribunal—
Convicted—Sentenced—Ermine—not to Me
Half the Condition, thy Reverse—to follow—
Just to partake—the infamy—

This one is difficult. It also took me a long time, for instance, just to figure out that the first line is saying "If we were both accused and the tribunal...," not "If you were accused and I was the tribunal." Ermine, I had to look up. It refers to the white fur once worn by judges. My best stab at this stanza is,

If you were accused, and I was too, and the tribunal convicted and sentenced only you, who is only half of the "condition," then  I, who share all with you as your reverse, would follow you to the cell and share your infamy. 

The main gist of this stanza, anyway, is one of radical love. Instead of blaming the beloved, the poet will share their guilt. For me this is getting down to true unconditional understanding.

I love these kinds of difficult stanzas because in trying to puzzle them out, you end up going deeper in. By the time I worked through this stanza for the dozenth time, I really started to feel the idea inherent in the radical love that comes not from a position of judgment, but rather one of solidarity.

The Tenant of the Narrow Cottage, wert Thou—
Permit to be
The Housewife in thy low attendance
Contenteth Me—

"The Narrow Cottage” refers to the grave. Dickinson often refers to death and burial with domestic metaphors (e.g., “A Coffin—is a small Domain”). So here, the beloved is imagined as already in the grave. The tone is intensely devotional and self-effacing. She’s not asking for closeness in life, or status in love, only the permission to serve the beloved, even in death. This is chillingly tender. She is saying, "Even if you were dead, and I could only sweep the dust from your grave, that would be more than enough."

No Service hast Thou, I would not achieve it—
To die—or live—
The first—Sweet, proved I, ere I saw thee—
For Life—be Love—

Now we get the "then" statement. Then, there is no service for you, the poet says, that I wouldn't do. I would die for you and I would live for you. To die is nothing, since death already seemed sweet to me before I met you, and to live for you means to love you. Either way, I'm at peace.

In Fr819, which was given to Sue, Dickinson says that the smallest crumb, even just a single look, from Sue is enough. In this poem Emily shows us what that enough would look like. Whatever weakness the beloved has, whether sick, or lost, or guilt-ridden, or even dead, she will be there. Otherwise, says the poet, it would be sweeter to be dead.

Don't we all wish to receive love like that? And don't we all aspire to be able to give it? In these incredible poems to Sue, Emily shows us how.


    -/)dam Wade l)eGraff

P.S. When I was looking up this poem I stumbled on another one by Robert Burns that appears to be the template for this one. Google search gave it to me because of the "Wert thou" construction. Sometimes researching these poems feels a bit like being a literary archaeologist and it was cool to happen across this connection, and to realize the influence of Burns on Dickinson. I'm sure Emily read Robert Burns poetry. The basic idea in the Burns poem is the same, though of course Dickinson makes it her own. Here is the first stanza,

Oh wert thou in the cauld blast,
On yonder lea, on yonder lea,
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee;
Or did misfortune's bitter storms
Around thee blaw, around thee blaw,
Thy bield should be my bosom,
To share it a', to share it a'.

In doing further research I discovered that Mendelssohn put this poem to music in 1859, a few years before this poem was written. Perhaps Dickinson was inspired by Mendelssohn's version. Here is a sweet rendition...