Comment 6 of 6, added on March 9th, 2011 at 6:57 PM.

Emily Dickinson was born into a prominent family in Amherst, Massachusetts. Known most of her life for being shy and socially awkward, Emily slowly started secluding from society. She moved to a private home away from society. Dickinson lived on her own terms; she created her own world and only allowed certain people in. Emily’s dark outlook on life could in part have to do with her brother’s affair. Emily was often put in the middle because she was very close to her brother’s wife, Susan Gilbert, whom she sent most of her poems to her to read. New theories suggest that Emily Dickinson moved away from society because she had epilepsy. Medical prescription records show that she was prescribed medicine that would treat that illness. Certain poems talk about “it” and how she had something to “tell” and in some of her poems she speaks about sickness. Some of her poems are about convulsions in her brain, also a sign of epilepsy. Living in a time when this illness was not very accepted, it makes sense that she would seclude herself away from the judging eyes of society.
Dear March, Come in!, a poem by Emily Dickinson, is about Emily’s love for the season of March and the joy it brought to her. She personifies March as if he were a friend. March is most likely Reverend Charles Wadsworth. By personifying the month of March, Dickinson is able to hide her relationship. She knows that it is wrong, but she is able to relate her love of March to Wadsworth, who is known to be the great love of Emily Dickinson’s life. Although he was married in March of 1855 he called on Dickinson and she spent three weeks visiting with him in Washington. It is thought that he inspired many of her poems about love.
Dear March, Come in! could be interpreted as the love story between Emily Dickinson and Charles Wadsworth. It describes the beginning, middle, and end of their relationship. The first stanza is about how happy Emily is when she is finally united with March. March is out of breath from being away for a year. In this first stanza Dickinson is extremely excited and happy to be with her love March.
In the second stanza, Emily is telling March about what happened while he was away. This stanza really shows the emotions that Emily feels about March. The ‘–‘ in this poem are used to show that Emily was so overcome with emotion that she was barely able to speak. She describes the red faces of the maple trees. This image could be the changing of the seasons or it could be the red anger in the judging faces of society that would look at their affair in a bad way.
The third stanza shows the end of the relationship between Emily and March. When April comes March must leave. Emily’s mood changes from being overcome with joy and she becomes extremely angry when the time comes for him to leave. She chooses to blame April for March having to leave because it is easier for her to blame something that she does not love than the one that she does love. April coming is most likely related to when Charles Wadsworth abruptly left Emily Dickinson and took a job at a church in San Francisco, California. Then she comes to the realization that the small things that March gave her seem even smaller now that he has gone.
The last two lines of the poem, which are similar in a lot of her poetry, tie together the theme of the poem. They are written: That blame is just as dear as praise And praise as mere as blame. What Dickinson is trying to convey is that she has come to the realization that as much as she loves the good things that March brings to her life, she also hates him for taking that away. There is a saying that March comes in like a lion but leaves like a lamb. The season of March comes in strong with heavy winds and cold weather, but it leaves with calmness. That is true in the relationship between Emily Dickinson and Charles Wadsworth. Their love started great, but then Wadsworth left her without much to remember.
After Charles Wadsworth left for California, Dickinson became very ill. A doctor reported that some kind of shock affected her nervous system and her eyesight. Epilepsy sometimes causes one’s eyesight to falter. She would not tell anyone what happened to her most likely because it would bring shame to her family. The idea of a woman having an affair with a married Reverend was not welcomed during Emily Dickinson’s time, nor was having an illness such as epilepsy.


Allie Boydon

Comment 4 of 6, added on March 29th, 2010 at 7:48 AM.

This poem portrays almost a dialogue, where a narrator is talking to March. If March was a person, than this poem would be a perfect example of a conversation one could have with March. This poem is the most light spirited and humorous of the anthology. Here, you can just simply enjoy the humor and casual cheerfulness of the poem.

The poem is opened with an invitation to March as if he were standing at the door. The poet personifies March as a person when they tell March to “put down” his “hat” which is something only a person would wear. You can imagine March as a person and how he is “out of breath” after walking. As March comes in, it can be assumed that with the arrival of March, that means winter must have left. The narrator of the poet apologizes for how the hills were not the right color of “purple suitable” for March because when March had last left, he took all the purple with him. That shows that winter must have left recently, as the hills have not turned the right color. Next, when April knocks on the door, the narrator of the poem calls out at March to “lock the door,” and that they would “not be pursued”. The narrator seems to be annoyed with April, commenting on how April calls while the narrator is already occupied and enjoying the company of March. The last two lines are about how praise and blame are related to each other. Here the narrator says that blame is praise and praise is blame. When someone blames March for taking away the beautiful purple hues of the hills, it is also praising March for bringing those very gorgeous colors. Basically what March takes away, it also brings and that is why blame and praise follow each other.

In the form of a dialogue, this poem is free verse. Although there are no rhymes, this poem is already so musical in that there are short phrases that just sound good; it seems that there is almost no need for rhymes.

What the poem is trying to show may be that when you have waited patiently for something and it shows up at your door, greet it warmly and enjoy it while it stays.

Please let me know if this was helpful (:

Kayoon Jung