the pierless bridge: emily dickinson's poems of faith and doubt

The Pierless BridgeEmily Dickinson’s Poems of Faith and Doubt

First Fridays � 3 May 2013

Bruce Clary, McPherson College, McPherson, Kansas

Hello. I am Bruce Clary.Associate Professor of EnglishMcPherson College

• Among other courses, I teachAmerican Literature

• Dickinson was the subject of my doctoral dissertation.

And this is Emily

Dickinson.

And this is Emily

Dickinson.

And this is Emily

Dickinson.

Today’s Objectives• Get reacquainted with Dickinson

• Explore some poems

• Experience the power of her language

Quiz time! What do you already know about Emily Dickinson?

1. Get out your phones. Silence them.

1. Get out your phones. Silence them.

2. Create a new text message.

1. Get out your phones. Silence them.

2. Create a new text message.

3. Do not hit Send until you are told.

1. Get out your phones. Silence them.

2. Create a new text message.

3. Do not hit Send until you are told.

4. Enter 666509 into the body of your message.

1859: Darwin

The Fascicles

1st Congregational Church of Amherst Built in 1868, Dickinson sneaked out of her house at night to view the new church. This was possibly the last time she left the grounds of the family home until her death in 1885.

How Dickinson wrote.How Dickinson Wrote

How Dickinson wrote.How Dickinson Wrote

• Traditional forms –• No titles• Variants – sometimes lots of

them

How Dickinson wrote.• Unconventional conventions• Extreme compression• Garbled grammar• Scrambled syntax

How Dickinson wrote.Why ED wrote this way

• She wrote for herself – maybe• Reader becomes co-creator• Make language new

“On subjects of which we know nothing, or should I say Beings, we both believe, and disbelieve a hundred times an Hour, which keeps Believing nimble.”

—1882 letter to Otis Phillips Lord

Those – dying then,Knew where they went –They went to God’s Right Hand –That Hand is amputated nowAnd God cannot be found –

The abdication of BeliefMakes the Behavior small –Better an ignis fatuusThan no illume at all –

Faith – is the Pierless BridgeSupporting what We seeUnto the Scene that We do not –Too slender for the eye

It bears the Soul as boldAs it were rocked in SteelWith arms of steel at either side –It joins – behind the Vail

To what, could We presumeThe Bridge would cease to beTo our far, vacillating FeetA first Necessity.

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –I keep it, staying at Home –With Bobolink for a Chorister –And an Orchard, for a Dome –

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice –I just wear my Wings –And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,Our little Sexton – sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman –And the sermon is never long,So instead of getting to Heaven, at last –I'm going, all along.

This World is not Conclusion.A Species stands beyond –Invisible, as Music –But positive, as Sound –It beckons, and it baffles –Philosophy – don't know –And through a Riddle, at the last –Sagacity, must go –To guess it, puzzles scholars –To gain it, Men have borneContempt of GenerationsAnd Crucifixion, shown –

Faith slips – and laughs, and rallies –Blushes, if any see –Plucks at a twig of Evidence –And asks a Vane, the way –Much Gesture, from the Pulpit –Strong Hallelujahs roll –Narcotics cannot still the ToothThat nibbles at the soul –

Of God we ask one favor,That we may be forgiven –For what, he is presumed to know –The Crime, from us, is hidden –Immured the whole of LifeWithin a magic PrisonWe reprimand the HappinessThat too competes with Heaven.

I know that He exists.Somewhere – in Silence –He has hid his rare lifeFrom our gross eyes.

'Tis an instant's play.'Tis a fond Ambush –Just to make BlissEarn her own surprise!

But – should the playProve piercing earnest –Should the glee – glazeIn Death's – stiff – stare –

Would not the funLook too expensive!Would not the jest –Have crawled too far

“Faith” is a fine inventionWhen gentlemen can see –But Microscopes are prudentIn an Emergency.

The Brain – is wider than the Sky –For – put them side by side –The one the other will containWith ease – and You – beside

The Brain is deeper than the sea –For – hold them – Blue to Blue –The one the other will absorb –As Sponges – Buckets – do –

The Brain is just the weight of God –For – Heft them – Pound for Pound –And they will differ – if they do –As Syllable from Sound –

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