Эмили Дикинсон
300
"Утро" - значит "Дойка" - для Фермера -
Заря - для Тенерифе -
Гаданье - для Служанки -
Утро значит лишь Риск - для Влюблённого -
Лишь Откровение - для Возлюбленной -
Эпикурейца - подать завтрак - им самим -
Невест - Открытие -
Миров - Потоп -
Робких Жизней - Их Уход от Воздыханий -
Веры - Испытание Господа Нашего
300
"Morning" -- means "Milking" -- to the Farmer --
Dawn -- to the Teneriffe --
Dice -- to the Maid --
Morning means just Risk -- to the Lover --
Just revelation -- to the Beloved --
Epicures -- date a Breakfast -- by it --
Brides -- an Apocalypse --
Worlds -- a Flood --
Faint-going Lives -- Their Lapse from Sighing --
Faith -- The Experiment of Our Lord
Poem 300 F191 ‘’Morning’ _ means ‘Milking’ _ to the Farmer’
Emily begins with two things that morning always is. It is always milking to the
farmer, and it is always a spectacular dawn on the island of Teneriffe.
But then she seems to switch to mornings which have a special significance, as in poem 42. On one morning a maid has to choose with a throw of the dice to see if she will accept the revelation her Lover has just risked making to her. On other mornings an epicure had a fabulous breakfast, a bride experienced the ‘Apocalypse’ of marriage, a world found itself flooded, a faint-heart decided to stop sighing. Most importantly, on one morning someone took the plunge of faith and began ‘the Experiment of Our Lord.’
Posted by Susan Kornfeld at 4:57 PM
"Morning" – means "Milking" – to the Farmer –
Dawn – to the Tenerife –
Dice – to the Maid –
Morning means just Risk – to the Lover –
Just Revelation – to the Beloved –
Epicures – date a Breakfast – by it –
Brides – an Apocalypse –
Worlds – a Flood –
Faint-going Lives – Their Lapse from Sighing –
Faith – The Experiment of Our Lord
- F191 (1861) 300
This is a list poem that explores morning by listing what it means to various people. The first stanza uses the format “Morning means …” for each line. In the second stanza the format changes and each line has to be jiggled a bit. Here’s a reconstruction and paraphrase:
Epicures plan their delicious breakfasts in the morning
Brides experience an Apocalypse the morning after
Worlds experienced a flooded world one morning
Faint-going Lives wake up and temporarily cease their sighing in the morning
Faith is the experience and suffering of Jesus who died in the belief that he and humanity would be resurrected in the morning that follows death. (Note: Dickinson used “Experiment” at times to mean “Experience,” “feeling,” or “suffering”
The grammatical sketchiness of the poem makes the reader is an active participant in the meaning. Why, for example, does morning mean “Dice” to the maiden? Is she trying for her chance at love and marriage? Is marriage just a game of chance? “Risk – to the Lover – ” may mean the risk of discovery: oops – he’s overstayed and now dawn is breaking. But why “Revelation” to the Beloved? Has she been awakened to physical love for the first time? Or is seeing her lover’s face beside her in the glow of dawn a revelation? Reader, I leave it to your own opinions. I personally find it a very rich way of writing poetry.
But note that each stanza begins with easy list items and then graduates to the harder. Sure, morning means milking to the farmer – it’s what he does every darn day. Sure, it means dawn on the sunny isle of Tenerife. But then the associations become less clear and more provocative. In the second stanza we can feel pretty confident about the association of breakfast with morning – and the anticipation of gourmet epicures for that repast. And we can imagine that the first morning of wedded life is, for the bride, something of an apocalypse in her life. Everything has changed. And so it goes on to that difficult last line.
[per the Emily Dickinson Lexicon: http://edl.byu.edu/lexicon/e/40].