Like hallowing of Heaven,
Obtains at a corporeal cost—
The Summit is not given
To Him who strives severe
At middle of the Hill—
But He who has achieved the Top—
All—is the price of All—
-Fr871, J772, 1864
This poem seems pretty straight forward for Dickinson. “The summit is not given to him who strives severe at middle of the hill.” In other words, the price of getting to the top is giving it your all.
The hallowing of Pain
Like hallowing of Heaven,
The hallowing (the making sacred) of Pain is likened to the hallowing of Heaven. They are thus aligned. We are hallowed through pain, just as Heaven is. Both are obtained at corporeal cost.
This poem reads like a marathon runner's mantra. No pain, no gain.
If so, Dickinson is like a coach, and she’s cheering us up that hill. You got this. All it’s going to take is everything you’ve got! Let’s go!
But wait. Really? The severe striving in the middle of the hill isn’t severe enough?
This poem seems pretty straight forward for Dickinson. “The summit is not given to him who strives severe at middle of the hill.” In other words, the price of getting to the top is giving it your all.
The hallowing of Pain
Like hallowing of Heaven,
The hallowing (the making sacred) of Pain is likened to the hallowing of Heaven. They are thus aligned. We are hallowed through pain, just as Heaven is. Both are obtained at corporeal cost.
This poem reads like a marathon runner's mantra. No pain, no gain.
If so, Dickinson is like a coach, and she’s cheering us up that hill. You got this. All it’s going to take is everything you’ve got! Let’s go!
But wait. Really? The severe striving in the middle of the hill isn’t severe enough?
The Summit is not given
To Him who strives severe
At middle of the Hill—
He who strives severe at the middle of hill will not attain the top, so you must be severer still. Yeesh.
Calvinism, which was central to the belief system of most of New England in the 19th century, took great stock in the idea of suffering. Read this way the poem seems austerely Calvinistic.
But was Emily really so severe?
The pleasure sneaks in though this poem. For instance, listen to what Dickinson does with the “ALL” sound in this poem. It starts with “The hALLowing of Pain, Like the hALLowing of Heaven." Then the "ALL" sound bends slightly into corporEAL and hILL, and middLE . Finally it ends emphatically with that double ALL. “ALL is the price of ALL.”
With that pleasure in mind I would propose a possible alternative reading to this poem.
In the opening lines,
To Him who strives severe
At middle of the Hill—
He who strives severe at the middle of hill will not attain the top, so you must be severer still. Yeesh.
Calvinism, which was central to the belief system of most of New England in the 19th century, took great stock in the idea of suffering. Read this way the poem seems austerely Calvinistic.
But was Emily really so severe?
The pleasure sneaks in though this poem. For instance, listen to what Dickinson does with the “ALL” sound in this poem. It starts with “The hALLowing of Pain, Like the hALLowing of Heaven." Then the "ALL" sound bends slightly into corporEAL and hILL, and middLE . Finally it ends emphatically with that double ALL. “ALL is the price of ALL.”
With that pleasure in mind I would propose a possible alternative reading to this poem.
In the opening lines,
The hallowing of Pain
Like hallowing of Heaven,
Obtains at a corporeal cost—
we note it's not pain one is obtaining at a cost, but the hallowing of pain. In other words, you can read this line as saying that it is the act of making pain sacred that comes at a cost.
What would the cost be? Pleasure right?
But isn't poetry a pleasure?
In this light, the last line, "All—is the price of All—," might have a different meaning. Severity is not all there is. It doesn't include virtues like mercy, tenderness and grace. The price of those things is an acceptance of all things. So all things must be hallowed, not just pain. That would be "Like hallowing of Heaven," which would mean the neglecting those in hell.
Did Emily intend this second reading? Maybe, but maybe not. I think Emily did sometimes suffer from an austere Calvinistic streak (see Fr865, where she says pleasure should come with an austere trait), and I believe she had a competitive drive toward greatness too, to "achieve the top."
But on second thought, maybe this alternative reading is what Emily meant here? I've almost convinced myself of it. Or rather, it is the sound of the poem that convinces me. The lulling sound of all that allness. hALLowing hALLowing corporEAL, middLE, hILL, ALL, ALL. It sounds too lovely to be too severe don't you think?
Like hallowing of Heaven,
Obtains at a corporeal cost—
we note it's not pain one is obtaining at a cost, but the hallowing of pain. In other words, you can read this line as saying that it is the act of making pain sacred that comes at a cost.
What would the cost be? Pleasure right?
But isn't poetry a pleasure?
In this light, the last line, "All—is the price of All—," might have a different meaning. Severity is not all there is. It doesn't include virtues like mercy, tenderness and grace. The price of those things is an acceptance of all things. So all things must be hallowed, not just pain. That would be "Like hallowing of Heaven," which would mean the neglecting those in hell.
Did Emily intend this second reading? Maybe, but maybe not. I think Emily did sometimes suffer from an austere Calvinistic streak (see Fr865, where she says pleasure should come with an austere trait), and I believe she had a competitive drive toward greatness too, to "achieve the top."
But on second thought, maybe this alternative reading is what Emily meant here? I've almost convinced myself of it. Or rather, it is the sound of the poem that convinces me. The lulling sound of all that allness. hALLowing hALLowing corporEAL, middLE, hILL, ALL, ALL. It sounds too lovely to be too severe don't you think?
-/)dam Wade l)eGraff
It's ALL pretty ambiguous. LOL.
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