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Poet: Emily Dickinson (Emily Dickinson Art)
Poem: 18.
The Gentian weaves her fringes
Volume: Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
Year: Published/Written in 1955
Poem of the Day:
Mar 22 2002
Comment 1 of 1, added on June 20th, 2005 at 2:26 AM.
This poem is Emily's requiem for a dead friend. It's pretty clear:
In the name of the Bee --
And of the Butterfly --
And of the Breeze -- Amen!
Is obviously her answer to:
In the name of the father--
And the Son--
And the Holy Ghost --Amen!
It is her "nature religion" and the religion of the future.
A brief, but patient illness --
An hour to prepare,
And one below this morning
Is where the angels are --
The departed one had but "an hour" to prepare for death. She was patient with her illness and she now lies below the earth: "below this morning."
"where the angels are--"
But later, Emily says
And then we knelt in prayer --
We trust that she was willing --
We ask that we may be.
Summer -- Sister -- Seraph!
Let us go with thee!
I think "Summer" is the defining word. It identifies "Seraph" and "Sister" with itself. "Sister" is the beloved human being, "Seraph" is the angel
of Biblical tradition and "Summer" is the world that she and all of us know to be true one: the natural world.
We trust that she was willing --
We ask that we may be.
We trust that she was willing to "go with Summer" and "We ask that we may be" as well.
By the way: the formatting of my comments is not the way I wanted it! It is very difficult to read. Please try anyway! Thanks, Jim
Jim from United States
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Comments
This poem is Emily's requiem for a dead friend. It's pretty clear:
In the name of the Bee --
And of the Butterfly --
And of the Breeze -- Amen!
Is obviously her answer to:
In the name of the father--
And the Son--
And the Holy Ghost --Amen!
It is her "nature religion" and the religion of the future.
A brief, but patient illness --
An hour to prepare,
And one below this morning
Is where the angels are --
The departed one had but "an hour" to prepare for death. She was patient with her illness and she now lies below the earth: "below this morning."
"where the angels are--"
But later, Emily says
And then we knelt in prayer --
We trust that she was willing --
We ask that we may be.
Summer -- Sister -- Seraph!
Let us go with thee!
I think "Summer" is the defining word. It identifies "Seraph" and "Sister" with itself. "Sister" is the beloved human being, "Seraph" is the angel
of Biblical tradition and "Summer" is the world that she and all of us know to be true one: the natural world.
We trust that she was willing --
We ask that we may be.
We trust that she was willing to "go with Summer" and "We ask that we may be" as well.
By the way: the formatting of my comments is not the way I wanted it! It is very difficult to read. Please try anyway! Thanks, Jim
Jim from United States