Safe in their alabaster chambers,
Untouched by morning and untouched by noon,
Sleep the meek members of the resurrection,
Rafter of satin, and roof of stone.
Light laughs the breeze in her castle of sunshine;
Babbles the bee in a stolid ear;
Pipe the sweet birds in ignorant cadences, —
Ah, what sagacity perished here!
Grand go the years in the crescent above them;
Worlds scoop their arcs, and firmaments row,
Diadems drop and Doges surrender,
Soundless as dots on a disk of snow.
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From guest celeste (contact)
i think this poem is about the three kingdoms of heven. the celestial, terrestrial, and telestrial kingdoms. in the first stanza, were it says untouched by morning, and untouched by noon, that could represent those in the telestrial kingdom. they are untouched by mornig, the celestrial kingdom, and untouched by noon, the terrestrial kingdom. then when it says sleep the meek members of the resurrection, that could be those in the telestial, and mabee even the terrestrial too, because they have to wait longer to be saved. the terrestrial kingdom-half a mellenium, and telestrial-a whole millenium. and there are also things like castle of sunshine, representing the celestrial kingdom, and the cresent above them could mean those in the telestrial kingdom, because the terrestrial kingdom is above them, and is represented by a cresent. in case you didn't know, the celestial kingdom is represented by the sun, the terrestrial a cresent or moon, and telestrial is stars. then were it says "diadems(crowns is basically what its saying) drop and doges(or a prince) surrender" it could represent jesus dying on the cross for us. and then there are some other things im still trying to figure out like the line "worlds scoop their arcs, and firaments row" all i know is that firaments means heavens. so anywho, i just thought id share my imput with whoever else is trying to find info on emily dickenson and comes across this website and desides to read this- so yeah...
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The above is an edited combination of these two original versions of the poem:
Safe in their Alabaster Chambers —
Untouched by Morning
And untouched by Noon —
Sleep the meek members of the Resurrection —
Rafter of satin,
And Roof of stone.
Light laughs the breeze
In her Castle above them —
Babbles the Bee in a stolid Ear,
Pipe the Sweet Birds in ignorant cadence —
Ah, what sagacity perished here!
version of 1859
Safe in their Alabaster Chambers —
Untouched by Morning —
And untouched by Noon —
Lie the meek members of the Resurrection —
Rafter of Satin — and Roof of Stone!
Grand go the Years — in the Crescent — above them —
Worlds scoop their Arcs —
And Firmaments — row —
Diadems — drop — and Doges — surrender —
Soundless as dots — on a Disc of Snow —
version of 1861 -
First stanza- Safe in the their alabaster (white ) chambers sleep the the meek members (poet and her friends) of resurrection( to be saved). They are inside the chamber, unaware of mornings and evenings (lost in touch with time). The chambers has strong roof of stone and royal rafters of satin.
Second stanza- Light "mocks" at the breeze (suffocation) in her castle of sunshine (darkness). The bees ( death) babbles in a "deaf" ear. The sweet birds chirp around the house in ignorance. Seems like sagacity perished in this place.
Third stanza- Grandly pass the years above them in their crescent roof castle. Their world gets ready to fight and the other skies (countries) fight. Crowns drop and rules surrender changing the political scenario. Soundless as dots ( gun shot blood ) on the shields of the defending shield covered with snow (perhaps winter). -
seems the poem speaks about her christian beliefs of resurrection... which could be a metaphor for expression about her own life and people similar...
could be written during the time of american civil war...
hence the word 'safe'...
and alabaster ... which means white walls denote the fear for death or grave situations...
second line... speaks of useless existence... and reflects an alienated or restricted situation... and not neccessarily reclusive...
third line ... shows hope of such emotionally dead people waiting to be ressurected...
line four... describes the richness, but the insensitive nature of the shelter place
second stanza could be her reactive descriptions towards enlightment, death and appreciations... happening in her own world...
light could mean ... enlightment , bee ... metaphor for death, cadences... as appreciations...
line 8 ... perhaps a remark made on such people... trapped in their own circle of loneliness...
stanza three speaks about the real world outside her own world...
lines 10 and 11 ... describe war situations...
line 12 ... the wars ending in silence... with all the blood shed and dead people...
like blood spots on a shield...
snow could mean ... a war in harsh winter season...
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