She rose to his requirement, dropped
The playthings of her life
To take the honorable work
Of woman and of wife.
If aught she missed in her new day
Of amplitude, or awe,
Or first prospective, or the gold
In using wore away,
It lay unmentioned, as the sea
Develops pearl and weed,
But only to himself is known
The fathoms they abide.
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ambiguous
From guest chris (contact)
a feminist reading of this poem takes on a whole new meaning. i liked the comment about it being about her own personal seclusion, i've never looked at it like that before. there is a definite feeling of time passing away: "or the gold, in using, wear away" and there appears to be an underlying acceptance that this is the life the persona chose. certainly if it was written within the last 50 years, feminists would have a field day with it. -
who's the speaker?
From guest kiyana pittman (contact)
could it be the woman losing everything? could it be the male figure? or could it be someone who sees the relationship? -
what does this poem mean?!
From guest kiyana pittman (contact)
i THINK the poem is about a woman who falls for a guy then finds herself trapped in a relationship unwanted....is that so? -
Probably the poet speaks about one of her friend.
First stanza- She(friend) entered his life (life partner) and dropped her small funs and became responsible to take the duties of a lady and a wife.
Second stanza- She missed the awe of amplitude or the first prospective or the gold in her life.
Third stanza- It was like the sea, unmentioned, developing pearls and weeds. But only to himself (life partner) is known the deep secrets they abide. -
I think perhaps Emily Dickinson was imagining what life could have been for her as a wife, perhaps, in a lonesome moment, trying to stay optimistic about her state seclusion.
Though I feel a kinship with this particular poet, I have a family and cannot remain secluded from the world. I guess, I feel as if I know what it is like to want to be alone and yet to find that loneliness too intense at times.
It is in those times I find myself writing "hopeful, optimistic" verse.
So, I don't think this poem was written or directed to anyone in particular; not to a love, for a love or about a love but for herself; to remind herself that her muse (which I imagine very, very important to her) and Loneliness were her best friends. I don't think the moments when she wanted someone and needed someone around were ever quite powerful enough to drive her out of her seclusion.
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seems like she is writing about women in olden days...
and the spontaneous of evolution of young women to take on the roles of wife and mother... focussing their attention on family... missing out on the fun of youth... so she says the depth of family values is unfathomable...
vivid words... good flow of words and rhyme
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Dont we all lose ourselves a bit when we take on these roles??? Knowing about Emily Dickenson, I know this was not her fate for she was a hermit in some standards. I wonder if she longed for this as she sat at her windows, not wanting to draw the curtain back.......
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Well what I thought of this poem is Emily Dickensen wrote this poem of women and she wrote very well and to her own way of writing of this. I may have to reread this to get the just of this poem. I want to learn more of this type of poetry. I would rank this fine.
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