tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post4521195125452926290..comments2024-03-29T06:02:33.720-07:00Comments on the prowling Bee: I could die — to know —Susan Kornfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-13027539388870609072023-11-17T14:21:38.700-08:002023-11-17T14:21:38.700-08:00If Line 10, “To the very Square — His foot is pass...If Line 10, “To the very Square — His foot is passing —”, refers to Higginson, ED likely composed F537 during April - August 1862 and then copied it into Fascicle 28 in early 1863:<br /><br />“In August of 1862, [Higginson] enlisted as Captain in the 51st Massachusetts Infantry. . . . Colonel Higginson served until being discharged in October 1864 due to an injury he had sustained in August of 1863.”<br /><br />https://digital.wpi.edu/downloads/kp78gh009?locale=en <br /><br />Lines 10-12 could be interpreted as romantic infatuation, or they could just as well be interpreted as the poet dreaming of her new mentor's ability to help her improve her poetry skills. If so, the mentor wasn't up to the task.<br /><br /><br />Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-26411418866120784452023-11-17T10:42:27.048-08:002023-11-17T10:42:27.048-08:00The elephant in the poem is whose foot is “His foo...The elephant in the poem is whose foot is “His foot”. <br /><br />My first guess was God or Wadsworth, both of whom rated a capital ‘H’ in ED’s poems, but the capital “His” could be simply the beginning of a sentence. We’re left guessing. We can infer from the last line that the speaker is “Here” (in Amherst?). Susan K posits the speaker as an “imagined person”, but that seems an unlikely leap.<br /><br />By Franklin’s copy date of “spring 1863”, Wadsworth is long gone to California, so cross him off the list, and God is unlikely given ED’s distrust. As far as we know, which isn’t very far, her only close male acquaintances likely to be in Boston are Higginson and Bowles. The first anniversary of ED’s first letter to Higginson is April 1863, so maybe they’re still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, metaphorically speaking, and she’s thinking of him. Her habit of noting anniversaries and birthdays with letters or poems was legendary.<br />Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-6477960128564953162023-11-16T22:18:48.824-08:002023-11-16T22:18:48.824-08:00Thank you, Larry. She might well be thinking of th...Thank you, Larry. She might well be thinking of that visit when writing this poem.Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-15279824044593974842023-11-16T16:09:42.474-08:002023-11-16T16:09:42.474-08:00Amherst has a town commons of several square block...Amherst has a town commons of several square blocks but no “Square” in the usual urban sense. Boston has many squares and would match ED’s description well:<br /><br />“News-Boys salute the Door —<br />Carts — joggle by . . .<br /><br />“Houses hunch the House<br />With their Brick Shoulders —<br />Coals — from a Rolling Load — rattle — how — near —<br />To the very Square”<br /><br />During September 1846, ED spent a month sightseeing in Boston. Her comment about “quietly settled down” in a letter to Abiah Root matches the noisiness and busyness of Boston.<br /><br />Boston, 8 September 1846 (L13 To Abiah Root)<br /><br />“Father & Mother thought a journey would be of service to me & accordingly, I left for Boston week before last. I had a delightful ride in the cars & am now quietly settled down, if there can be such a state in the city.”<br /><br />Dickinson returned home to Amherst after a month’s sightseeing in Boston, telling Abiah she had been “almost everywhere that you can imagine.<br /><br />https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2022/03/i-have-so-much-to-tell-emily-dickinsons-1846-visit-to-boston/#_ednref1 <br />Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-86987232264753148212023-11-16T13:59:20.628-08:002023-11-16T13:59:20.628-08:00“This verse is completely free, very modern. This ...“This verse is completely free, very modern. This poem takes Dickinson out of the realm of the conventional -- even for Dickinson. It is astonishing.”<br /><br />Should we poetry novices infer ‘I could die — to know —’ is a unique first in the annals of free verse poetry? Or is this hyperbole?<br /><br />“Morning's bold face — stares in the window —<br />Were but mine — the Charter of the least Fly —”<br /><br />ED Lex defines “Charter” as “ legal document; bestowal of rights; granting of privileges”. The “least Fly” has the “right” and “privilege” to stare in “the window”; ED would like the same right and privilege to be a peeping-Tom, but whose window?<br />Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-82222799255496009982017-01-09T12:01:07.346-08:002017-01-09T12:01:07.346-08:00I think she could easily be dreaming about Sam Bow...I think she could easily be dreaming about Sam Bowles walking to work as he usually did. He was a man of the world and news was his game.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10047678873938396282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-30186022220989963052014-05-27T13:37:38.075-07:002014-05-27T13:37:38.075-07:00Thanks, Lee. Thinking about your comment makes me ...Thanks, Lee. Thinking about your comment makes me give the poem a different reading. Dickinson's Boston stay for her eyes was in 1864, so if Franklin dates the poem correctly she had only made a brief visit there. But that would be enough! I wonder if this poem isn't written from the vantage of one of her 'imagined persons' -- in this case a lovelorn woman. Perhaps she even knew a person that recounted a time of her life like this. The poem does indeed seem to describe a Boston sort of locale.Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-26097291348663423812014-05-26T21:14:38.017-07:002014-05-26T21:14:38.017-07:00The scene depicted sounds more like a cityscape th...The scene depicted sounds more like a cityscape than small town Amherst. The activity, the traffic, the houses hunching brick-shouldered houses (the Homestead was on several acres of land surrounded by gardens, barns and a meadow with only the Evergreens as neighbor, and they hardly hunched near each other.) It all leads me to believe that this poem was written in Boston, not Amherst. I am speculating that it was either written in Boston, or inspired by her observations in Boston while she boarded there for medical treatment in the year associated with this poem.<br />The line that reveals that there is a beloved going about his business not so far away could arouse much more speculation – about his identity. But that issue has been covered, volume upon volume of coverage, by far better historical detectives than I !<br />Lee Silverwood<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-53792510266893942014-05-26T17:59:10.602-07:002014-05-26T17:59:10.602-07:00The jostling world is depicted with a percussion o...The jostling world is depicted with a percussion of rhythms: spondees such as Brick Should(ers), bold face, how – near, Carts – jog(gle); nestled among anapests such as "from a Roll(ing), To the ver(y), in the win(dow). And then there is the quiet phrase "His foot is passing" followed by the very slow complex sound of "Possibly, this moment". The last line in its slow dreaminess contrasts the speaker with the clashing bustle of the world.<br /><br />Yes, very modern. The first line tells you it's not your typical Victorian or Romantic poet. It's breathless and arch at the same time and completely fresh.<br /><br />Thanks for pointing this out. <br />I also like the alliteration of "Houses hunch the House".Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-18456574743449776672014-05-26T15:57:23.534-07:002014-05-26T15:57:23.534-07:00The words in this poem are quintessentially Dickin...The words in this poem are quintessentially Dickinson -- vivid and surprising.<br /><br />But what strikes me here is the rhythm. Dickinson has entirely abandoned the verse of poems like "We learned the Whole of Love" and many others -- where she employs an iambic, even line -- with occaisional breaks that are notable and powerful because of the consistency of the rhythm of the rest of the poem and the expectations that it sets up.<br /><br />This verse is completely free, very modern. This poem takes Dickinson out of the realm of the conventional -- even for Dickinson. It is astonishing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com