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Poet: Emily Dickinson
Poem: 59.
A little East of Jordan,
Volume: Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
Year: Published/Written in 1955
Comment 1 of 1, added on March 2nd, 2006 at 11:43 PM.
This poem has more references to the Bible than one might think at first. It took a while for me to understand it, but here's what I get:
It is the retelling of the story where Jacob wrestled with an Angel. They continued all night until morning, at which point, with Jacob in the lead, the Angel begged to leave. Jacob responded by saying, "I will not let thee go/ Except thou bless me". Line 13 reads "Light swung the silver fleeces." This is a reference to Gideon, also of the Bible. In his story, Gideon thought he heard God, but wanted proof. He put a fleece outside and asked God, if it were him, to miraculously have the fleece wet but the surrounding ground dry. It was done, but as more proof, Gideon asked for the opposite to be done the next morning, and it was. So basically, that line infers proof of God and his exsistence. "'Peniel' Hills beyond" (Line 14) somehow implies that Jacob saw the ANgel in the distance ("Peniel" is the name of an angel). SInce the Angel was far away, Jacob realized that he had actually been wrestling with God!
Mari Smith from United States
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Comments
This poem has more references to the Bible than one might think at first. It took a while for me to understand it, but here's what I get:
It is the retelling of the story where Jacob wrestled with an Angel. They continued all night until morning, at which point, with Jacob in the lead, the Angel begged to leave. Jacob responded by saying, "I will not let thee go/ Except thou bless me". Line 13 reads "Light swung the silver fleeces." This is a reference to Gideon, also of the Bible. In his story, Gideon thought he heard God, but wanted proof. He put a fleece outside and asked God, if it were him, to miraculously have the fleece wet but the surrounding ground dry. It was done, but as more proof, Gideon asked for the opposite to be done the next morning, and it was. So basically, that line infers proof of God and his exsistence. "'Peniel' Hills beyond" (Line 14) somehow implies that Jacob saw the ANgel in the distance ("Peniel" is the name of an angel). SInce the Angel was far away, Jacob realized that he had actually been wrestling with God!
Mari Smith from United States