Linda's Literary Home

Author: Linda Sue Grimes

  • Emily Dickinson’s “I would distal a cup”

    Image: Emily Dickinson – Amherst College – Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 – likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet

    Emily Dickinson’s “I would distal a cup”

    Emily Dickinson’s “I would distal a cup” mimics a toast to a departing friend.  It appears in a letter to newspaper editor Samuel Bowles, a family friend.

    Introduction and Text of “I would distil a cup”

    The text of Emily Dickinson’s “I would distal a cup” in prose form appears in a letter to Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican, the most influential newspaper in New England around 1858.  The letter begins with the writer thanking Mr. Bowles for sending her a pamphlet.  She expresses uncertainly that he is the actual sender but thanks him in case he is.

    The rest of the letter finds the writer communicating her famous claim that her friends are her “estate,” and celebrating the notion that friendship enlivens her, keeping her on her toes.  The letter bears the date August 1858 and she remarks that the workers are gathering the “second Hay.”  

    Thus the summer season is winding down.  It is at this point in the letter that she states, “I would distil a cup, and bear to all my friends, drinking to her no more astir, by beck, or burn, or moor!”

    Apparently, Dickinson thought enough of this sentence to include it as a full-fledged poem in one of the many  fascicles that Thomas H. Johnson later edited for publication in his The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, the groundbreaking work that restored Dickinson’s poems to their original forms.  

    In the letter, Dickinson’s sentence-turned-poem seems to jump up out the verbiage as a toast at a gala dinner party, wherein one would rise, raise a cup, and offer the toast to one being recognized.

    I would distil a cup

    I would distil a cup,
    And bear to all my friends,
    Drinking to her no more astir,
    By beck, or burn, or moor!

    Commentary on “I would distal a cup”

    In a letter to Samuel Bowels, Emily Dickinson puts on display her colorful, chatty conversational ability, including this original prose-statement, which later became a finished poem.

    First Movement:  Creating, Rising, and Offering

    I would distil a cup,
    And bear to all my friends,

    The speaker, as if rising to offer a toast at some gathering of friends, imparts that she wishes to offer a toast “to all [her] friends.”  The drink is likely a fine whiskey; thus the speaker conflated the manufacture of the drink with her lifting the cup.  

    She makes herself more important to the creation of the drink than she, or anyone offering a toast, would deserve.  But the exaggeration simply implies her devotion to her friends, who are by the way, her “estate.”  Not only is she offering a toast, but she is also creating the drink in order to offer it.

    Then after the speaker had created this distilled beverage, she lifts her cup and bears its contents to all of her friends.  At the point that poem appears in her letter to Bowles, she had made it clear that she can make chatty conversation.  

    She has claimed that she wishes to be forgiven for hoarding her friends.  She has surmised that those who were once poor have a very different view of gold than those who have never suffered poverty.

    The letter writer even invokes God, saying He does not worry so much as we or else he would “give us no friends, lest we forget him.”  Playing on the expression, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” she compares what one might anticipate in “Heaven” as opposed to what one experiences on earth and finds the latter more appealing.

    However, the speaker then abruptly tells Bowles that, “Summer stopped since you were here,” after which she mourns the loss of summer with several acerbic witticisms.  She offers Bowles some paraphrases from her “Pastor,” who has dismissed humanity as nothing but a “Worm.”  

    Then she poses the question to Bowles:  “Do you think we shall ‘see God’?”  This abrupt inquiry likely startled Bowles, which is no doubt the writer’s purpose.  But then she moves on to the image of “Abraham” “strolling” with God “in genial promenade,” seemingly answering her own startling question.

    Second Movement:  As Summer Abandons the Streams and Meadows

    Drinking to her no more astir,
    By beck, or burn, or moor!

    After having distilled the fine liquor, poured it into her cup, she lifts it and offers her toast to the one who is in the process of departing—her beloved summer.  The summer season is no longer “astir” in the streams or on the meadows.  

    She employs the colorful terms “beck” and “burn” (bourne) to refer to streams of water.  And then she refers to fields, heaths, or meadows as “moor,” likely also for its colorful, exotic texture.

    Immediately after the toasting sentence in the letter, the letter writer abruptly bids Mr. Bowles, “Good night,” but she still has more to say and proceeds to say it.  She then claims that “this is what they say who come back in the morning.”  

    She seems to be identifying with summer who is saying good-bye but only to return “in the morning.”  But her certainty that “Confidence in Daybreak modifiers Dusk,” allows her to accept the pair of opposites that continually blight her world.

    The speaker has difficulty even saying good-night or good-bye to a friend once she has opened the conversation. But she knows she must wind down, just a summer has done; thus she wishes blessings for Bowles’ wife and children, even going to far as to send kisses for lips of the little ones.  

    She then tells Bowles that she and the rest of the Dickinson family remain eager to visit with him again.  And she will dispense with “familiar truths,” for his sake.

    Emily Dickinson and at the Exotic

    Emily Dickinson’s penchant for exoticisms likely enamored her of some of the more cryptic expressions placed in her letters.  That penchant allowed her be so cheeky as to select certain expressions and later present them in a fascicle as a poem.  

    It also explains her employment of terms for ordinary nouns such a field, river, creek, or meadow.  She kept her dictionary handy and made abundant use of it. Luckily, her intuitive perception and ability with language kept her from suffering the clownish terminology often detected by users of a thesaurus.

    Image b: Samuel Bowles – Emily Dickinson Museum

  • Thou Hast Opened My Blind Eyes

    Image: Created by Grok inspired by the poem

    Thou Hast Opened My Blind Eyes

    —after “Listen, Listen, Listen”

    Thou hast opened my eyes to treachery
    And grown me a shield against her.
    She groped through my heart chambers
    Leaving barbs that pricked with each beat,
    But Thou hast swept them away,
    Swept each chamber clean!

    Thou hast opened my blind eyes;
    Now, I open my voice
    And sing to Thee my songs
    That Thou hast given me.
    O, hear my songs,
    Hear my songs to Thee:
    I can never forget, never forsake Thee,
    O Great Sweeper of my heart!

  • Emily Dickinson’s “The Guest is gold and crimson”

    Image: Emily Dickinson – Amherst College – Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 – likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet

    Emily Dickinson’s “The Guest is gold and crimson”

    Emily Dickinson’s “The Guest is gold and crimson” dramatizes sunset as a guest who visits every door, every day.  This poem functions as a riddle, as the speaker never names the subject she is describing.

    Introduction and Text of “The Guest is gold and crimson”

    Within her collection of some 1,775 poems, Emily Dickinson has included at least 22 that focus on the diurnal phenomena known as “sunset.”  So fascinated by the act was the poet that she creates speakers to dramatize it in many colorful outpourings.  

    In “The Guest is gold and crimson,” the speaker personifies “sunset” as a visitor who comes to town “at nightfall,” and he visits everyone in town as he “stops at every door.”  And then the speaker follows the guest as though he were a bird moving beyond her own town and territory to other shores.

    The Guest is gold and crimson

    The Guest is gold and crimson –
    An Opal guest and gray –
    Of Ermine is his doublet –
    His Capuchin gay –

    He reaches town at nightfall –
    He stops at every door –
    Who looks for him at morning
    I pray him too – explore
    The Lark’s pure territory –
    Or the Lapwing’s shore!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQVp-qZ1H5c&t=

    Commentary on “The Guest is gold and crimson”

    The speaker in Emily Dickinson’s “The Guest is gold and crimson” is dramatizing sunset as a guest who visits every door, every day.  This poem functions as a riddle, as the speaker never names the subject she is describing.

    First Movement: Elemental Coloration in the Heavens

    The Guest is gold and crimson –
    An Opal guest and gray –

    The speaker describes the subject of her drama by stating the colors of sunset.  Readers will immediately recognize the colors of “gold and crimson” as the remarkable duo of hues that accompany the onset of the setting of the sun.  

    Of course, depending upon the atmospheric accumulation of elements, those golds and crimsons may blend in outrageous ways that may put the viewer in mind of classic paintings by famous artists.

    That those golds and crimsons come against the background of the sky results in an accompanying guest who is “Opal” as well as “gray.”  The blue of the sky is influenced by the golds and appears opalescent against a darkening or graying out appearance.

    At the opening scene, the speaker does not intrude upon her drama, except to state in definitive descriptors what she has actually observed from her own point of view.  As she colorizes the scene, she offers her audience the room to blend those colors to their own experiences.

    Second Movement:  A Dandy Caller

    Of Ermine is his doublet –
    His Capuchin gay –

    The speaker continues her description of the guest, who now resembles a gentleman caller, wearing a close-cropped jacket with a fur trim, and over it all he sports a lively colored cape.  Thus, sunset has now been identified as a guest, who is a man dressed rather dandily.

    Again, the textures along with colors allow her audience to envision the broad sky turning all mixtures of hues as the sun begins to close its eye on the speaker’s part of the earth.  The speaker’s world is becoming dark, but not without a dramatic play of wild and glorious events happening all around the daystar as it takes its leave at nightfall.

    Third Movement:  An Virtually Omnipresent Visitor

    He reaches town at nightfall –
    He stops at every door –

    Now this gentleman caller, this magnificently dressed guest, appears at nightfall.  This guest has a delicious yet totally variant habit of not only visiting people in the town whom he knows, but he also visits every household as he “stops at every door.”

    The marvelously arrayed guest is visible to everyone, everyday.  The speaker must be so enthralled to describe such a magnanimous and generous visitor.  This fine gentleman appears all gloriously decked out and performs his drama for all to enjoy.

    Fourth Movement:  Funny Speculation

    Who looks for him at morning
    I pray him too – explore

    The speaker then offers a humorous speculation regarding someone who would be foolish enough to try to see this guest in the morning; such a thought is, of course, silly because this guest appears only at night.  However, the speaker thus encourages such a person who has gone looking for this guest in the morning to continue looking, that is, keep “explor[ing].” 

    Fifth Movement: The Other Side of the Planet

    The Lark’s pure territory –
    Or the Lapwing’s shore!

    If one by chance, after much exploration, happens upon the “Lark’s pure territory,” or around the Australian continent, one might catch a glimpse of this quest.  Morning in Australia is, of course, nighttime in USA New England.

    But the speaker’s ultimate recommendation is simply to look for this guest on the “Lapwing’s shore,” likely where she has observed him.  Do not go looking for such a remarkable, colorful event anywhere but where you are. And as you find him at nightfall, you will find him to be a constant visitor, who will always astound you with his dramatic appearance.

  • Just a Visitor

    Image: Created by Grok inspired by the poem

    Just a Visitor

    —after “Where is there Love?”

    I am just a visitor here
    Where no one knows how to love me,
    Where few even think of the soul;
    Divine Mother, bless their blind eyes,
    Bless their dry hearts, open wide
    The gates of love that they may
    Behold Thy radiant face.

    I am just a visitor here
    Where no one can love me,
    For only soul love will satisfy me.
    Divine Mother, bless this dark world
    Where no one knows how to love anyone,
    From where I yearn to travel to Thine abode
    Where true loving love offers solace.

  • Emily Dickinson’s “One Sister have I in our house”

    Image: Emily Dickinson – Amherst College – Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 – likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet

    Emily Dickinson’s “One Sister have I in our house”

    Emily Dickinson’s “One Sister have I in our house” is a tribute to her sister-in-law Susan Gilbert Dickinson, who married Emily’s brother Austin.

    Introduction and Text of “One Sister have I in our house”

    Susan Gilbert Dickinson became Emily Dickinson’s sister-in-law, but she also served Emily’s poetic talent by advising Emily about books to read and ideas to consider.  Susan thus played an important rôle in Emily’s pursuit of empirical knowledge. 

    Susan had traveled extensively and had lived outside of Emily’s New England bubble; thus she was able to help Emily broaden her horizons regarding worldly knowledge.

    While the Austin Dickinson home, the “Evergreens,” became the locus of tragedy, and likely Emily did not know the extent to which her adoptive sister might have shared in the blame for some of that discord, Emily remained beholden to Susan for the many useful and important aspects of art that Susan brought into Emily’s life. 

    Emily possessed the wherewithal to look on the bright side of life and celebrate it, even in the face of adversity. Thus the following poem is Emily’s tribute to her second sister, who lived “a hedge away.”

    One Sister have I in our house

    One Sister have I in our house,
    And one, a hedge away.
    There’s only one recorded,
    But both belong to me.

    One came the road that I came –
    And wore my last year’s gown –
    The other, as a bird her nest,
    Builded our hearts among.

    She did not sing as we did –
    It was a different tune –
    Herself to her a music
    As Bumble bee of June.

    Today is far from Childhood –
    But up and down the hills
    I held her hand the tighter –
    Which shortened all the miles –

    And still her hum
    The years among,
    Deceives the Butterfly;
    Still in her Eye
    The Violets lie
    Mouldered this many May.

    I spilt the dew –
    But took the morn –I chose this single star
    From out the wide night’s numbers –
    Sue – forevermore!

    Image:  Lavinia Dickinson  – FindAGrave

    Commentary on “One Sister have I in our house”

    Emily Dickinson’s “One Sister have I in our house” is a tribute to her sister-in-law Susan Gilbert Dickinson, who married Emily’s brother Austin.

    First Stanza:  Two Sisters

    One Sister have I in our house,
    And one, a hedge away.
    There’s only one recorded,
    But both belong to me.

    The speaker begins by stating colorfully that she has two sisters:  one lives in the same building as the speaker, while the other one resides in a nearby edifice that is “a hedge away.”  She then states that one sister is legally hers having been “recorded” as such, but she recognizes them both as her siblings.

    Dickinson in this poem is once again employing her riddle-like style, but she never names her legal sister with whom she resides, while in the final line, she does reveal the name of the sister who lives nearby: “Sue – forevermore!”

    “Sue” is Susan Gilbert whom Dickinson had known for many years, and who married Austin Dickinson, Emily’s only brother.  Emily adored her brother and she then came to love her sister-in-law and accepted her as a sister, as this poem portrays the tribute to Sue Gilbert.

    Second Stanza:  Contrasting Sisters

    One came the road that I came –
    And wore my last year’s gown –
    The other, as a bird her nest,
    Builded our hearts among.

    Continuing to contrast the differences that exist between the two “sisters” whom the speaker is claiming, the speaker reveals that she is a bit older than her natural-birth sister by saying that that sister was able to fit into the garments that the speaker had outgrown, “last year’s gown.”  And the natural, legal sister has traveled the same “road” that the speaker has traveled.

    The adopted sister came into their lives like a bird that builds its nest among the leaves.  But this sister claimed their hearts, and thus the speaker can now feel comfortable calling her sister.

    Third Stanza:  Seeing New Englandly

    She did not sing as we did –
    It was a different tune –
    Herself to her a music
    As Bumble bee of June.

    The new sister also has a somewhat different style of viewing life as well as a different way of speaking from the Dickinson’s.  Emily once said “I see–New Englandly–.”  And she, of course, spoke New Englandly.

    While Susan Gilbert was born in Massachusetts, she was raised from age 5 in New York; thus she would not have acquired the same Massachusetts (New England) accent that the Dickinson’s would have employed.

    Nevertheless, the speaker has enjoyed the speaking, singing of the newly added sister, as she compares that new sister’s accent to the June bumble bee.  That sound at first stings the mind but becomes a welcome sound because it means that summer is here.

    Fourth Stanza:  A Pleasant Trek

    Today is far from Childhood –
    But up and down the hills
    I held her hand the tighter –
    Which shortened all the miles –

    The speaker now reveals that she is reporting from a period of time that has moved them all way beyond “Childhood.”  And the speaker thus reports that having trekked through the landscape with her new sister and “held her hand” even tighter as the years have flown by has made the speaker’s life more pleasant.

    The miles of travel through life can become long and tedious, but having a pleasant companion can make those miles seem less long and tedious.  The new sister has done that for the speaker, and thus this tribute to that sister.

    Fifth Stanza:  Retaining an Eye for Beauty

    And still her hum
    The years among,
    Deceives the Butterfly;
    Still in her Eye
    The Violets lie
    Mouldered this many May.

    The speaker continues to remark about the sister’s speaking.  That sister has the ability to fit in to the New England way of things remarkably well.   She is so well suited to the New England way that the natives may even think she grew up a New England resident.

    The speaker then reports that although many months of May have come and gone, the sister’s eye for detecting the natural beauty in flowers or little violet blooms remains in tact; the “Violet” thus becomes a symbol for all of nature in these lines.

    Sixth Stanza:  Achieving Harmony and Balance

    I spilt the dew –
    But took the morn –
    I chose this single star
    From out the wide night’s numbers –
    Sue – forevermore!

    The speaker finally reports that she became aware of her great admiration for her adoptive sister as morning seemed to overtake her in thought that was as gentle and wet as the “dew.”  These thoughts that watered her growing plant of musing caused the speaker to pick out this remarkable friend who has served the speaker’s life like a sister.

    The speaker calls that new sister a “star” for the light of knowledge the sister has provided the speaker.  The appreciative speaker vows to continue to respect and honor that relationship that has grown between the two writers.

    Image:  Susan Dickinson – Emily Dickinson Museum

    Susan Dickinson Also a Writer

    Susan Gilbert Dickinson was also a writer and had advised Emily on a wide variety of topics important to poets.  Emily once quipped to Susan, “With the exception of Shakespeare, you have told me of more knowledge than any one living.”

    Emily also called such praise strange, yet poets know that knowledge is a priceless gift, and they understand that honoring the giver of such gifts is necessary for a balanced life.  Dickinson was completely aware of the necessity of striving for and achieving harmony in her life, and she took every precaution to arrive safely on the shores of harmony and balance.

    Image:  Austin Dickinson – The Daily Gardener

  • Only the Soul Am I

    Image: Created by Grok inspired by the poem

    Only the Soul Am I

    —after “No Birth, No Death” 

    No father, no mother, no sister, no brother—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    No city, no country, no gender, no race—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    I am not the iron in this blood—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

     I am not the air in these lungs—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    I am not the muscle, not the bones—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    Not the skin, not the nerves—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    Not the hair, not the teeth—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    Not the brain, not the mind—
    Only the soul am I
    Only the soul.

    Only the soul am I—
    Only the immortal, eternal, divine soul.

  • Emily Dickinson’s “Sleep is supposed to be”

    Image: Emily Dickinson – Amherst College – Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 – likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet

    Emily Dickinson’s “Sleep is supposed to be”

    Dickinson’s “Sleep is supposed to be” redefines two common terms employed daily but, to the speaker’s mind, remain misidentified.

    Introduction with Text of  “Sleep is supposed to be”

    While the speaker in “The morns are meeker than they were” offers a playful riddle in order to elaborate on the beauty of the fall season, the speaker of “Sleep is supposed to be” has a very different purpose; this speaker disputes the common conception of “sleep” and “morning.”  

    The speaker then offers the common notion about what sleep and morning are understood to be and contrasts it with a different level of awakening.  She is referring to the spiritual awakening, when the soul and the Oversoul become one.   Dickinson often describes those states of awareness that transcend the physical level of existence.

    Sleep is supposed to be

    Sleep is supposed to be
    By souls of sanity
    The shutting of the eye.

    Sleep is the station grand
    Down which, on either hand
    The hosts of witness stand!

    Morn is supposed to be
    By people of degree
    The breaking of the day.

    Morning has not occurred!

    That shall Aurora be –
    East of Eternity –
    One with the banner gay –
    One in the red array –
    That is the break of Day.

    Reading of “Sleep is supposed to be”   

    Commentary on “Sleep is supposed to be”

    The speaker wants to redefine a term that by her reasoning has been mischaracterized.

    First Stanza:  Normal Sleep

    Sleep is supposed to be
    By souls of sanity
    The shutting of the eye.

    The speaker begins by stating that normally folks think of sleep as the act when people shut their eyes.    Those normal people are just everyday folk who go about their day waking, eating, working, playing, procreating, and of course shutting their eyes to sleep, before the next day finds them doing those ordinary things again.  

    Those individuals are the “sane” souls because they all agree on the common definition of “sleep.”  For them there is no other definition of “sleep”; thus the speaker must now enlighten them.  

    Second Stanza:  Opening Up a Mystic Paradise

    Sleep is the station grand
    Down which, on either hand
    The hosts of witness stand!

    After asserting that the normal, sane folks of the world have defined “sleep” a certain way, the speaker must now insert a new definition into the lexicon of society’s manners and language.   Instead of being merely a “shutting of the eye,” this speaker has discovered that sleep also allows a new world to emerge—one that is “grand.”  

    This world is a mystic paradise, where the angels appear everywhere.  They appear as “hosts” who give witness that this seemingly unusual realm exists.  The speaker has thus elevated the common activity in which all creatures worldwide engage to a metaphysical activity that she can be sure very few have experienced.

    The speaker therefore likely knows that what she is reporting will be understood by very few folks, but by dramatizing it in a poem she may reach some on some intuitive level. And even if they think she is merely describing dreams, well, that is better than continuing to devalue sleep as merely “shutting of the eye.”

    Third Stanza:  Considering Morning

    Morn is supposed to be
    By people of degree
    The breaking of the day.

    The speaker now moves on to the second term which she is urged to redefine for humanity—”Morn” or morning.  As with “sleep,” she tells her readers/listeners what people who deem themselves knowledgeable consider “morn” to be.   Those illustrious but limited folks consider morning to be merely the time that day begins, that time between the “shutting of the eye” and the “breaking of the day .”

    Fourth Stanza:  Morning Every Morning

    Morning has not occurred!

    The speaker then startles her readers/listeners by boldly asserting with emphasis, placing her announcement in one line, in order to draw maximum attention to its content.  

    This speaker insists that, in fact, there has been no “Morning” yet.  Despite the thinking of those smart people that morning is simply the time that day breaks, she courageously declares that “Morning has not occurred!”  Such a startling statement throws open all the windows of the mind.  What could the speaker be thinking?  After all morning occurs every morning, does it not?

    Fifth Stanza:   The True Morning

    That shall Aurora be –
    East of Eternity –
    One with the banner gay –
    One in the red array –
    That is the break of Day.

    The speaker then describes what a true “Morning” is.  A true morning is the time that the souls greets their Maker.  A great light appears that spreads from the forehead (“East”) out into that Heaven beyond the physical cosmos.  

    That union of soul and Oversoul is a time that is marked by a brilliant flag, marked by spreading of the brightest light beyond all physical light and sight.

    The speaker then concludes:  “That is the break of Day.” (Or “That is the break of Day.”) She emphasizes her description by emphasizing the word, “That.”  Modern-day type-script uses italics; Dickinson underlined the word, as is necessary without modern-day technological advances with the use of word processing.

  • My Altar of Bliss

    Image: Created by Perplexity inspired by the poem

    My Altar of Bliss

    —after “In the Temple of Silence”

    I close the door to the world,
    Listen to the music of Aum,
    Listen to the hum of silence.
    I close the windows of the world,
    Welcome no more in my sanctuary.

    Peace, silence, light, glorious, divine Love
    Coax me to my temple of silence,
    Coax me to my altar of peace,
    Where sacred love waits to wed
    My soul to the Soul of golden Bliss.

  • Emily Dickinson’s “The morns are meeker than they were”

    Image: Emily Dickinson – Amherst College – Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 – likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet

    Emily Dickinson’s “The morns are meeker than they were”

    Emily Dickinson’s “The morns are meeker than they were” is one of the poet’s riddle poems; it is focusing on the phenomenon of how mornings change with the season.

    Introduction with Text of  “The morns are meeker than they were”

    Emily Dickinson’s speaker in “The morns are meeker than they were” is observing the natural features surrounding her.  She has begun to detect a transformation in how morning is now behaving.

    She then remarks about the behavior of the trees and eventually focuses a comment on the “field.” Finally, she reveals how all these alterations will influence her own behavior.

    This poem presents itself as one of Emily Dickinson’s riddles, in which she describes the subject but does not name it;  thus she allows her audience to figure out the answer to the riddle.

    The morns are meeker than they were –

    The morns are meeker than they were –
    The nuts are getting brown –
    The berry’s cheek is plumper –
    The Rose is out of town.

    The Maple wears a gayer scarf –
    The field a scarlet gown –
    Lest I should be old fashioned
    I’ll put a trinket on.

    Reading of “The morns are meeker than they were” 

    Commentary on “The morns are meeker than they were”

    Mornings change with the season.

    First Stanza:  The Rose Has Flown

    The morns are meeker than they were –
    The nuts are getting brown –
    The berry’s cheek is plumper –
    The Rose is out of town.

    The  speaker observes that mornings have become more sedate and quiet than they had been.  At this point, readers/listeners have no idea why the behavior of morning should have become “meeker.”

    The second line, however, begins to open up the answer to a riddle, as she begins to drop hints about her subject.   She describes the browning of the nuts, and the plumping of the “cheek” of the berry.

    And by the final line, which reports that the roses have gone away, no longer decorating the summer day, the reader can be sure that the speaker is describing the onset of the autumn season, a season Dickinson loved and found unusually inspiring for her poetic musings.

    Second Stanza:  A Trinket for the New Fashion

    The Maple wears a gayer scarf –
    The field a scarlet gown –
    Lest I should be old fashioned
    I’ll put a trinket on.

    The speaker now offers further clues about her subject.  Maple trees are now decked out in leaves that look more varied and that seem more merry than the simple summer green they had hitherto adorned.  Even the meadow now dons a colorful dress. Replacing its summer green attire is a bold “scarlet gown.”

    After reporting on all the changes the speaker has observed in the behavior of morning, the coloring of the nuts, the fattening of the berries, the absence of the roses, the maple leaves turning all colorful.

    And the meadow is sporting a bright red dress. The speaker now announces that she will begin wearing some “trinket,” in order to keep up with all the modern day apparel.  

    She does not want to be caught dressed for summer and appear “old fashioned” among the newly minted, colorful styles being sported by the beings that constitute her “society” of creatures during this new and exciting season.