酷我-北美枫

[ericcoliu]

Poem of the Week

Poem Lyrics of Title divine -- is mine! (1072) By Emily Dickinson


Title divine -- is mine!
The Wife -- without the Sign!
Acute Degree -- conferred on me --
Empress of Calvary!
Royal -- all but the Crown!
Betrothed -- without the swoon
God sends us Women --
When you -- hold -- Garnet to Garnet --
Gold -- to Gold --
Born -- Bridalled -- Shrouded --
In a Day --
Tri Victory
"My Husband" -- women say --
Stroking the Melody --
Is this -- the way?


Thematic Review

Like her “wife” poems of the 1860s which reflect the ambivalent feeling towards conventional marriage and “wifehood,” Emily Dickinson’s poem 1072 not only reveals this ambivalence but also takes on a hard and harsh look at the state of marriage. In the poem replete with religious imagery, Dickinson employs the cardinal ideas of Christian theology, such as the selfless sacrifice of Christ sent by God at Calvary, to draw an striking parallel for the sacrifice a woman makes in her society (“God sends us Women -- / … / Born – Bridalled -- Shrouded --”).

Pronouncing ”Title divine -- is mine!”, the speaker claims a regality for herself and envisions herself the “Empress of Calvary”, a royal bride of suffering, and thus she correlates the pain of love with marriage, which is a subjugating confinement imposed by man (“ ‘My Husband’ -- women say -- / Stroking the Melody --”). She perceives the status of “Wife” as a “Title divine” in this divine marriage; since it is not an earthly marriage, she is “The Wife -- without the Sign.” Nonetheless, she is “Royal -- all but the Crown,” and “Betrothed -- without the swoon.” Her suffering (“Born – Bridalled -- Shrouded --”) has resulted in victory (“In a Day -- / Tri Victory”) and made her an empress, as Christ was made a king by claiming victory over death in his resurrection (“God raised him [Jesus Christ] from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” The Acts of the Apostles, 2:24, NIV Bible).

Read into the context of the nineteenth-century social expectation of “wifehood,” the poem portrays a bleak, yet realistic picture of the marriage state. In the poem, Dickinson summaries the three stages of a woman’s married life: “Born -- Bridalled -- Shrouded --“, with the “Bridalled” state placed between life (“Born”) and death (“Shrouded”). A woman’s married life begins with the wedding kiss of lips of “Garnet” and the wedding rings of “Gold” bind permanently (“God sends us Women -- / When you -- hold -- Garnet to Garnet -- / Gold -- to Gold –“). Then the bride is not merely “Born” into a new life of sexuality (“the swoon”), not for pleasure but for reproduction, but also “Bridalled”, both made a bride and bridled by her husband until she dies and is “Shrouded.”

An undercurrent of conflicting feelings runs throughout Dickinson’s poem and it is characteristic of her poetry. She is a highly personal poet; nearly all of her poetry can be traced directly back to her own specific experiences and emotions. Her ambivalence toward marriage was deeply grounded in her perception of what the role of "wife" prescribed by the binding patriarchal marriage. From her own observation of married women, including her mother, family members, and close friends, Dickinson saw the failing health, the unmet demands, the absenting of self that was part of the husband-wife relationship. The poem concludes with a poignant question, calling to engage in a debate about conventional marriage and “wifehood” defined by a patriarchal society.

"My Husband" -- women say --
Stroking the Melody --
"Is this -- the way?
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Poem of the Week

Poem Lyrics of Title divine -- is mine! (1072) By Emily Dickinson


Title divine -- is mine!
The Wife -- without the Sign!
Acute Degree -- conferred on me --
Empress of Calvary!
Royal -- all but the Crown!
Betrothed -- without the swoon
God sends us Women --
When you -- hold -- Garnet to Garnet --
Gold -- to Gold --
Born -- Bridalled -- Shrouded --
In a Day --
Tri Victory
"My Husband" -- women say --
Stroking the Melody --
Is this -- the way?


Thematic Review

Like her “wife” poems of the 1860s which reflect the ambivalent feeling towards conventional marriage and “wifehood,” Emily Dickinson’s poem 1072 not only reveals this ambivalence but also takes on a hard and harsh look at the state of marriage. In the poem replete with religious imagery, Dickinson employs the cardinal ideas of Christian theology, such as the selfless sacrifice of Christ sent by God at Calvary, to draw an striking parallel for the sacrifice a woman makes in her society (“God sends us Women -- / … / Born – Bridalled -- Shrouded --”).

Pronouncing ”Title divine -- is mine!”, the speaker claims a regality for herself and envisions herself the “Empress of Calvary”, a royal bride of suffering, and thus she correlates the pain of love with marriage, which is a subjugating confinement imposed by man (“ ‘My Husband’ -- women say -- / Stroking the Melody --”). She perceives the status of “Wife” as a “Title divine” in this divine marriage; since it is not an earthly marriage, she is “The Wife -- without the Sign.” Nonetheless, she is “Royal -- all but the Crown,” and “Betrothed -- without the swoon.” Her suffering (“Born – Bridalled -- Shrouded --”) has resulted in victory (“In a Day -- / Tri Victory”) and made her an empress, as Christ was made a king by claiming victory over death in his resurrection (“God raised him [Jesus Christ] from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” The Acts of the Apostles, 2:24, NIV Bible).

Read into the context of the nineteenth-century social expectation of “wifehood,” the poem portrays a bleak, yet realistic picture of the marriage state. In the poem, Dickinson summaries the three stages of a woman’s married life: “Born -- Bridalled -- Shrouded --“, with the “Bridalled” state placed between life (“Born”) and death (“Shrouded”). A woman’s married life begins with the wedding kiss of lips of “Garnet” and the wedding rings of “Gold” bind permanently (“God sends us Women -- / When you -- hold -- Garnet to Garnet -- / Gold -- to Gold –“). Then the bride is not merely “Born” into a new life of sexuality (“the swoon”), not for pleasure but for reproduction, but also “Bridalled”, both made a bride and bridled by her husband until she dies and is “Shrouded.”

An undercurrent of conflicting feelings runs throughout Dickinson’s poem and it is characteristic of her poetry. She is a highly personal poet; nearly all of her poetry can be traced directly back to her own specific experiences and emotions. Her ambivalence toward marriage was deeply grounded in her perception of what the role of "wife" prescribed by the binding patriarchal marriage. From her own observation of married women, including her mother, family members, and close friends, Dickinson saw the failing health, the unmet demands, the absenting of self that was part of the husband-wife relationship. The poem concludes with a poignant question, calling to engage in a debate about conventional marriage and “wifehood” defined by a patriarchal society.

"My Husband" -- women say --
Stroking the Melody --
"Is this -- the way?
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

What follows is one of the so-called "wife" poems of the 1860s:

She rose to His Requirement — dropt (732)


She rose to His Requirement — dropt
The Playthings of Her Life
To take the honorable Work
Of Woman, and of Wife —

If ought She missed in Her new Day,
Of Amplitude, or Awe —
Or first Prospective — Or the Gold
In using, wear away,

It lay unmentioned — as the Sea
Develop Pearl, and Weed,
But only to Himself — be known
The Fathoms they abide —



The gold wears away; "Amplitude" and "Awe" are absent -- "If ought She missed in Her new Day, / Of Amplitude, or Awe — / Or first Prospective — Or the Gold / In using, wear way" -- for the woman who meets the requirements of wife ("She rose to His Requirement / ... To take the honorable Work / Of Woman, and of Wife —").

That's why in poem 1072 Dickinson portrays woman's life bound by the wedding: "Born--Bridalled--Shrouded."
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

What follows is one of the so-called "wife" poems of the 1860s:

She rose to His Requirement — dropt (732)


She rose to His Requirement — dropt
The Playthings of Her Life
To take the honorable Work
Of Woman, and of Wife —

If ought She missed in Her new Day,
Of Amplitude, or Awe —
Or first Prospective — Or the Gold
In using, wear away,

It lay unmentioned — as the Sea
Develop Pearl, and Weed,
But only to Himself — be known
The Fathoms they abide —



The gold wears away; "Amplitude" and "Awe" are absent -- "If ought She missed in Her new Day, / Of Amplitude, or Awe — / Or first Prospective — Or the Gold / In using, wear way" -- for the woman who meets the requirements of wife ("She rose to His Requirement / ... To take the honorable Work / Of Woman, and of Wife —").

That's why in poem 1072 Dickinson portrays woman's life bound by the wedding: "Born--Bridalled--Shrouded."
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[星子]

Thanks for sharing.

Good!
_________________

[[ANNA]]

Thanks for sharing.

Good!
_________________

[Champagne]

[[Champagne]]

[hahaview]

Born-Bridalled-Shrouded-
In a day -
Tri Victory

"Bridalled" indicates the wedding ceremony and puns on "bridled;" and a bride is shrouded behind her wedding veil and invisible to the binding patriarchal marriage until she dies and is "shrouded" in winding sheets."

Born-Bridled-Shrouded-
In a day -
Tri Suffering

Empress of Calvary!
_________________
I came, I saw, and I conquered

[[hahaview]]

Born-Bridalled-Shrouded-
In a day -
Tri Victory

"Bridalled" indicates the wedding ceremony and puns on "bridled;" and a bride is shrouded behind her wedding veil and invisible to the binding patriarchal marriage until she dies and is "shrouded" in winding sheets."

Born-Bridled-Shrouded-
In a day -
Tri Suffering

Empress of Calvary!
_________________
I came, I saw, and I conquered

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[redshoe]

[[redshoe]]

[redshoe]

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