To be alive—is Power—

To be alive—is Power—
Existence—in itself—
Without a further function—
Omnipotence—Enough—

To be alive—and Will!
'Tis able as a God—
The Maker—of Ourselves—be what—
Such being Finitude!


      -Fr876,  J677, Fascicle 39, 1864


This is one of those poems that comprises an entire philosophy of life.

The first stanza makes a claim about pure existence. It is Power. One normally thinks of power as being hierarchical. You have power over something. But pure being is not power over anything. Or rather, it is power over nothing. The power resides in merely the hum of life. Feel the power in yourself.

Dickinson wrote in a letter to T.W. Higginson, "I find ecstasy in living - the mere sense of living is joy enough."

The Power here is inverse to the normal sense of dominating Power. It is the power of repose, of rest in the joy of living.

Omnipotence—Enough—

Mere existence is enough! You take a breath in and it feels good, because it is a release from breathing out, and vice versa. Marcel Proust writes, "...the act–as a rule not noticed–of drawing breath could be a perpetual delight."

This is not just Power, Emily says, but Omnipotence.

The irony is that the desire for any power over someone or something else is the very thing that takes away from the true Power you can find in the calm poise of pure being.

The first stanza by itself is, as it say, "Enough." The second stanza functions as a “but” clause. But wait, there’s more! But…

To be alive—and Will!
'Tis able as a God—
The Maker—of Ourselves—be what—

Okay, now we’re grooving. The power of our will to make of ourselves into what we will ourselves to be is God-like.

Such being Finitude!

Our lives may be finite, but the possibilities of our lives are infinite.

So we have two powers to wonder over here, the Power of pure being, and inside of our allotted time, an infinitely variable Power of will. Double wow. 

Here's the way I read the condensed syntax of those last two lines. 

The Maker—of Ourselves—be what (?)—
(considering) such being (is) Finitude!

In other words: what are we going to be considering that such being is finite? 

We don’t have forever to do our “willing.” The exclamation point that ends this poem is one of astonishment, but also one of urgency. Our possibilities may be endless, but not our time. 

Both stanzas of this poem are saying something powerful, but let's look at how they work together. There is a kind of logical progression between the two. If the Omnipotence of existence is "enough," then why will anything? The question hangs there.

What we choose to do, the idea in the second stanza, must rest on the “Enough” in the first stanza. The idea that WHAT we create may be grounded in our ability to accept our existence without any need for dominance. Our goodness can be found in that acceptance. 

If there was a book called "How Emily Dickinson can change your life" this poem would have to go in it. In the way the Power of "Will" of the second stanza rests on the Power of "Existence" of first, we have a solid foundation for virtue.

      -/)dam Wade l)eGraff

Notes

1. It's worth looking a little deeper into the strange syntax in this poem, and, in particular the way Dickinson uses the unit of the line.

The Maker—of Ourselves—be what—

Note that the line never lands. “Be what—” is grammatically incomplete. It leaves identity open. It forces the reader to “dwell in possibility." You feel in this line the self is unfinished. Identity is not predetermined. The act of “being” is ongoing. The syntax performs the idea of becoming.

And look at the syntax in this line,

Such being Finitude!

Instead of calmly saying “even though we are finite,” she bursts out in amazement. The fractured syntax mirrors the shock. How can something finite contain such open-ended power?

2.

The argument in this poem serves as a rebuttal to the Calvinistic thinking that was dominant in Amherst in Emily’s time. Calvinism teaches God is absolutely sovereign. Human will is fallible (“not my will, but thy will be done."). Salvation depends entirely on God’s grace.

Dickinson takes the idea of God alone being omnipotent and relocates it in existence itself.

Existence—in itself—
Omnipotence—Enough—

She also elevates human will.

To be alive—and Will!
’Tis able as a God—

That’s pretty shocking in a Puritan context.

But I don’t see these thoughts as rebellious, necessarily. It’s more subtle than that. Dickinson internalizes divinity. She collapses the distance between Creator and creature.

3. I liked many things about the TV series, Dickinson, but one thing that irked me was that it characterized Emily as being in love with Death. This poem, as well as many others, show us that she was in love with life. But I forgive the show, because Wiz Khalifa plays death, and I can imagine Dickinson digging Wiz Khalifa. Also the first time she meets him the Billie Eilish song "Bury a Friend" is playing, which is perfect.