Poem-A-Day/April 20
(Johnson 512)
The Soul has Bandaged moments —
When too appalled to stir —
She feels some ghastly Fright come up
And stop to look at her —
Salute her — with long fingers —
Caress her freezing hair —
Sip, Goblin, from the very lips
The Lover — hovered — o'er —
Unworthy, that a thought so mean
Accost a Theme — so — fair —
The soul has moments of Escape —
When bursting all the doors —
She dances like a Bomb, abroad,
And swings upon the Hours,
As do the Bee — delirious borne —
Long Dungeoned from his Rose —
Touch Liberty — then know no more,
But Noon, and Paradise —
The Soul's retaken moments —
When, Felon led along,
With shackles on the plumed feet,
And staples, in the Song,
The Horror welcomes her, again,
These, are not brayed of Tongue —
**
This chilling poem is in the key of Gothic horror--the word "horror" suggests not just fright, but a genre: think of castles, ghosts, fogbound graveyards, mummies (the first Egyptian mummies were being brought back to the US at the time, and displayed--often in private salons--by wealthy collectors), etc. "Dungeoned"; "bandaged"--these ideas are taken from the popular novels and tales of the time, which Dickinson read with fervor. It belongs with Dickinson's more dire explorations of states of mental and emotional confinement (look back on the course and find some poems it seems to be in dialogue with--); but it also forms a bridge with poems that seem to come out of her reading, her sense of narrative's dark glamor and mystery.
(Johnson 512)
The Soul has Bandaged moments —
When too appalled to stir —
She feels some ghastly Fright come up
And stop to look at her —
Salute her — with long fingers —
Caress her freezing hair —
Sip, Goblin, from the very lips
The Lover — hovered — o'er —
Unworthy, that a thought so mean
Accost a Theme — so — fair —
The soul has moments of Escape —
When bursting all the doors —
She dances like a Bomb, abroad,
And swings upon the Hours,
As do the Bee — delirious borne —
Long Dungeoned from his Rose —
Touch Liberty — then know no more,
But Noon, and Paradise —
The Soul's retaken moments —
When, Felon led along,
With shackles on the plumed feet,
And staples, in the Song,
The Horror welcomes her, again,
These, are not brayed of Tongue —
**
This chilling poem is in the key of Gothic horror--the word "horror" suggests not just fright, but a genre: think of castles, ghosts, fogbound graveyards, mummies (the first Egyptian mummies were being brought back to the US at the time, and displayed--often in private salons--by wealthy collectors), etc. "Dungeoned"; "bandaged"--these ideas are taken from the popular novels and tales of the time, which Dickinson read with fervor. It belongs with Dickinson's more dire explorations of states of mental and emotional confinement (look back on the course and find some poems it seems to be in dialogue with--); but it also forms a bridge with poems that seem to come out of her reading, her sense of narrative's dark glamor and mystery.
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ReplyDeleteWe’ve discussed how Dickinson frequently uses volcano, bomb and loaded gun imagery to describe subjects that are filled with potentiality. In many of the poems discussed, the subject was the speaker herself, and we got a sense of the speaker’s repressed emotion and its subsequent release.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, the speaker’s “soul has Bandaged Moments” and is “too appalled to stir”, indicative of a kind of mental and emotional paralysis. Nevertheless, in the third stanza, “the soul has moments of Escape”. Like a volcano erupting, the soul moves from its immobile state to suddenly capable of “bursting all the doors” and dancing “like a Bomb, abroad”. By including diction choices such as “bursting” and “bomb”, Dickinson posits the inevitability of the soul’s explosive escape. The bomb imagery suggests that the escape could occur at any moment and that the soul becomes dangerous in its explosive state.
However, by the end of the poem, we realize that the escape is a transient one. After its escape, the soul is shackled once more: “The Horror welcomes her, again”. By moving between the soul’s oscillating states, this poem seems to imply that the soul, despite its momentary pleasurable escape, is helpless against “the Horror” that incapacitates her.
I absolutely love the imagery of the first two stanzas. As you say, it is taken right out of gothic novels, just like "One need not be a chamber." The "ghastly Fright" which creeps up on her, which she even calls a "goblin," is like something from a ghost story. The line "long fingers/caress her freezing hair" is so vivid! The fact that the hair is "freezing" heightens the scariness of the scene, like we are in a cold winter's night or like she is already a corpse.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a creepy Sleepy Beauty element, where the goblin is invited to kiss the body. I find it so fascinating that the "lover" is said to have "hovered--o'er--" her lips...it's like there was no consummation of that relationship (which seems typical for Dickinson) but now this creature is able to take that step.
I also loved how the the bee, which is a famous and frequent image in her poems, appears here again. But now, instead of being a literal element of nature, it's figurative---another metaphor for the soul. The word "delirious" is just so strong. I can totally picture a bee careening around a flower. The line break of "then know no more/But Noon, and Paradise" is phenomenal because of how she strings you along. It sounds like the bee dies with "know no more," but then the next line shows its actually a happy ending for the bee after all.
I really love this poem! It's like it has a bit of everything: psychology, nature, gothic-ism...each stanza contains so much to unpack.
Oops, that above comment is from Margaret! I was in the wrong Google account :/
ReplyDelete