How much the present moment means

How much the present moment means

To those who've nothing more -

The Fop - the Carp - the Atheist -

Stake an entire store

Opon a moment's shallow Rim

While their commuted Feet

The Torrents of Eternity

Do all but inundate -

F (1420)

The speaker discusses life’s value from the standpoint of one who does not believe in a life to come. The present means immensely more to those not hoping for the future because it is all they have, “nothing more.”

Dickinson uses water imagery in relation to eternity to show the vastness of it: “Torrents of Eternity” and “inundated.” Torrents are “violent or rushing” streams, implying that eternity is violent and fast like the image pictured above (Emily Dickinson Lexicon). Inundate means full and overflowing, showing eternity does not fill the people who live for the moment, those who stay on the “shallow Rim.”

Dickinson uses the Fop, the Carp, and the Atheist as her example groups who share this feeling. A fop is a vain man who is overly concerned about his appearance while a carp is a complainer and critic. It is interesting that Dickinson throws the atheist among this crowd. She equates one who does not believe in God with vanity and criticism. All three of these people are concerned about the present more than the eternal future, but for different reasons.

Vanity is defined as “excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance or achievements” by the OED. A man full of vanity would not be concerned about the future because he is so concerned about the present. How does he look? How is he perceived? He is living for the now because he cannot see past the present. The carp, who complains and criticizes everything, is also overly concerned with the present. So concerned that he can only discuss how awful and flawed it is. This person does not have hope for a better life but dwells on the failures of the present. The atheist, having no belief in God, would not have a concept for the afterlife. There would be no reason to be concerned about something that he did not believe exists.

The atheist would obviously not be concerned about the afterlife because he does not believe in it, but the fop and the carp show their unbelief by their actions. Their way of life, vanity and complaining, shows that they do not think about eternity or the life to come. Their actions are purely focused on the present. Dickinson describes the lack of care for eternity as living on the “shallow Rim,” showing that she personally values eternity and the afterlife because it is vast and deep, exciting and epic.

Though Dickinson does not believe in the Christian concept of heaven (see “Going to Heaven!”), she believes in a heaven of her own. She cherishes the afterlife that she has created, full of nature. She cannot agree with those who have no concept of the afterlife because to live for now alone is vain.

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http://edl.byu.edu/

Shall I take thee, the Poet said

Shall I take thee, the Poet said

To the propounded word?

Be stationed with the Candidates

Till I have finer tried -

The Poet searched Philology

And was about to ring

for the suspended Candidate

There came unsummoned in -

That portion of the Vision

The Word applied to fill

Not unto nomination

The Cherubim reveal -

F (1243)

The poet in the poem is trying to choose a particular word to complete his or her masterpiece, and after much effort, the perfect word is revealed. The process was clearly difficult. The poet almost gives up, ending their poetic endeavor. They almost go with the original word that they questioned from the beginning, but through a "portion" of a "Vision" the perfect word is revealed.


In this poem, Dickinson shows the difficulty that writers face when writing poetry. Each word matters immensely and requires articulate thinking for perfection. The words are questioned, pondered, and finally chosen. It is a spiritual moment, from "the Vision" when a word is decided upon as the "Cherubim" reveals it. It comes from above; it is celestial.


Dickinson uses imagery to show the mental process of choosing the perfect word by using verbs like "stationed," "searching," "ring," and "reveal." These words are often used in elections, showing the likening of elections and choosing the perfect word. She also uses adjectives like "propounded," "unsummoned," and "suspended" to continue in this imagery. Both sets of words relate to elections as we imagine them today. We have "candidate[s]" and "nomination[s]" in our electoral system, just as the poet has regarding words. There is questioning of the words like there is questioning of a presidential candidate, and finally there is a winner.


It is ironic that she is writing a poem where a poet is trying to write a poem. What she describes in her poem is likely the same thing she struggled with herself. In fact, based on the manuscript found above, many of her words had other options, which shows her personal experience with the subject of her poem. For example, the final version has “finer” in the last line of the first stanza, but she pondered other options like “further” and “vainer.” She also questioned using “probed” instead of “searched.”


The decisions that Dickinson made in regards to specific words in her poetry were crucial to the meaning of the poem itself. Each word is significant to the poem as a whole. For example, if she would have chosen “further” rather than “finer” in the first stanza, it would have changed the meaning of the line. “Finer” implies that the poet is trying to meticulously choose the proper word. She is trying the candidate words as if they were in court, seeing how well they stand in the line of fire. If she would have used the word “further,” it would have implied that the poet was taking more time to try the words, making it seem laborious rather than meticulous.


Just like the poet in the poem, every word Dickinson chose had to go through an intense process in order to be deemed perfect. Her poem not only describes her personal writing process, but the writing process that poets struggle through to produce a masterpiece.

https://www.edickinson.org/editions/1/image_sets/240388

Apparently with no surprise

Apparently with no Surprise
To any happy Flower
The Frost beheads it at it's play -

In accidental power -

The blonde Assassin passes on -
The Sun proceeds unmoved
To measure off another Day
For an Approving God -

F (1668)


This poem describes the cycle of change in nature, specifically the cycle of death in nature. The flowers, which die in winter, are not surprised when they are killed because it is expected and normal, as seen in the frozen rose above. The world keeps moving even after they die, the sun “measure[s] off another day,” and God is in control of it all. He even approves of this killing as nature acts according to his will.

In approving her own unique religion, Dickinson often discusses Christianity “in tones of mocking contempt” (Hughes 283). The speaker in “Apparently with no surprise” is matter of fact, sarcastic, and skeptical as well. Beginning the poem with “Apparently” creates tension between whatever is apparent and the speaker. He or she is not satisfied with the flippant killing of the “approving God” (ll. 8). This pushes the speaker towards her own form of religion rather than the religion of the “approving God” who condones the “blonde assassin” (ll. 5) to “behead” flowers “at its play” (ll. 3).

The speaker in “Apparently with no Surprise” describes the cycle of death in nature with a disapproving voice, aligning with Dickinson’s personal beliefs regarding an all-powerful God. This subject and theme could also apply to the death of humans being an act of God as natural as winter killing flowers, which angers and saddens Dickinson who’s life was marked by several losses.

It attempts to reconcile this idea of God, Dickinson often reverts to the worship of nature as God, rather than the Christian God. Despite her frequent portrayal of nature as God, Dickinson does not always completely forfeit the idea of God, keeping God and nature somewhat distinct. Nature is performing the acts of God by enacting the death of the flowers. “Apparently with no surprise” shows this idea as “the frost beheads” (ll. 3) “happy [flowers]” (ll. 2) “for an approving God” (ll. 8). Flowers are not surprised when nature, acting out of obedience to God, assassinates them. Despite Dickinson’s frequent portrayal of nature as God, this poem makes a clear distinction. Nature is acting for God, and life goes on as “the sun proceeds unmoved” and the “blond assassin passes on” (ll. 5-6).

Dickinson continues to show her opinions on God’s actions using her form in the poem. The rhyme scheme in this poem adheres to traditional hymn rhyme in the first stanza, being ABCB. However, in the second stanza, when God is introduced, it is altered, changing to a slant rhyme rather than a perfect rhyme. This difference shows the discrepancies between Dickinson’s feelings about nature and God. Nature follows the perfect order, shown by the perfect rhyme, but God does not. God interferes with the perfect order, and Dickinson shows that she prefers nature.


Hughes, Glenn. “Love, Terror, and Transcendence in Emily Dickinson’s Poetry.” Renascence, vol. 66, no. 4, Fall 2014, pp. 283–304.
http://www.wallpapermania.eu/wallpaper/frozen-red-rose-winter-time

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church --

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –

I keep it, staying at Home –

With a Bobolink for a Chorister –

And an Orchard, for a Dome –

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice –

I just wear my Wings –

And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,

Our little Sexton –  sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman –

And the sermon is never long,

So instead of getting to Heaven, at last –

I'm going, all along.

F (236)

While many consider church as going to a communal place to worship, with a sermon and Clergyman, the speaker finds her place of worship, as well as her heaven, in nature. The speaker talks of defining her sabbath as different than others’, for while they spend time in church, she spends time in nature, worshipping it. She goes so far to call it her “heaven,” saying that “instead of going to Heaven - at last | [she] is going, all along.” She has found her heaven and has no need for the conventional church.


Dickinson frequently uses the ballad meter when writing poems, but “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church -” defies that form as the speaker defies the conventional Sabbath. Ballad meter usually alternates between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, creating a song-like sound for the poem. Many hymns and spiritual songs hold to this form, and Emily Dickinson writes in it often. However, this poem plays with the form, adding beats and switching the stress of syllables sometimes midline. The meter of the poem varies from line to line; no two lines in one stanza consist of the same number of beats, which is abnormal and breaks conventional forms. Her unconventional form relates to the speaker’s unconventional worship.

Despite the differences in meter, “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church,” does adhere to the typical rhyme scheme of ballad poems. This shows that the form of worship between churchgoers and the speaker is not that different. Though there may be differences in where they worship and what they worship, they are both worshiping in a similar way. The speaker’s version of sabbath still has a “dome” in the form of an “orchard” (as seen in the picture above) and a “Bobolink” as a “Chorister,” showing the similarities between the two forms of church. Dickinson accentuates the similarities by keeping the typical rhyme scheme of the form she has mostly altered.

Dickinson also uses diction tied to a classical church service, such as “Bells,” “Clergyman,” “Sexton,” “Chorister,” “Dome,” and “Sermon.” She does so to again tie the speaker’s form of worship to the traditional form of worship, showing that they are not as different as they seem. The “Chorister” and “Bells” are replaced with song-birds; the structure of the church, consisting of a “Dome,” is replaced with an “Orchard,” showing the similarities. Though she accentuates the similarities, the speaker also shows her preferred version. Nature is her place of worship, being freed from the clergical, traditional expectations, and though she justifies their resemblance, she doesn’t hide that they are in fact different and she prefers the nontraditional.


Dickinson purposefully creates irony in her unconventional poem about worship. For example, sexton is defined as a “church officer whose duty is to ring church bells and dig graves for the dead” according to the Emily Dickinson Lexicon. Dickinson uses it figuratively here as a type of bird:

       And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,

       Our little Sexton – sings.

Rather than the Sexton ringing the bells for church (and often for the announcement of death), he is singing life into her Sabbath. This is ironic because what is represented in the church as signaling death, signals life for her ‘church.’ She redefines what the Sexton’s job is to represent a singing bird, similar to the Bobolink being the “choir.” Birds often represent freedom when mentioned in poetry, so Dickinson’s use shows the speaker’s freedom in her form of worship.


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http://edl.byu.edu/

I never saw a Moor.

I never saw a Moor. 

I never saw the Sea - 

Yet know I how the Heather looks

And what a Billow be - 

I never spoke with God

Nor visited in Heaven - 

Yet certain am I of the spot

As if the Checks were given - 

F (800)

The speaker in the poem describes her faith. She explains that despite the fact that she has never seen a "Moor" or the "Sea," she knows what they are and understands them to a degree. Her lack of experience does not negate her understanding, comprehension, or belief in their existence. Similarly, though she has never spoken with God or been to heaven she is "certain" of their existence as if she had received physical proof. The thoughts begin with the physical world and blend into the metaphysical on a grander scale.

The speaker believes in God and in heaven just as she believes in the moors and the seas. Whether or not this is the Christian God and heaven, we cannot know, but it is clear that the speaker has some sort of faith in a version of the two. Moors and seas are natural places that are semi-related. A moor is a “place saturated with water, usually overgrown with grass, weeds, and heath” (“moor”). It is land uncultivated just as the sea is water uncultivated. The sea is unpredictable, vast, and deep. Similarly, moors are uncontrolled, overgrown, and expansive.

The sea and the moor are compared to God and Heaven in an interesting way. Both the sea and moor are unruly, so what does that say about God and heaven? One argument could show that the two comparisons are opposites of each other. While moors and seas are uncultivated, God and heaven are refined. You need a “Check” or ticket for heaven, but there is free access to the seas and moors. Also, it only takes passive action, seeing, to verify the moor and sea’s existence while it takes physical action, speaking and visiting, to verify the validity of God and heaven. It takes more effort to gain certainty of the eternal.

One could also argue that the speaker compares the two to draw similarities between the two stanzas. God and heaven are like the sea and moor: vast, raw, uncultivated. This would align with Dickinson’s biographical history of skepticism. The religion of her time and society was strict and orderly, but, she did not conform to that ideology despite her saturation in puritan New England. She had her own concept of God and heaven which resided with nature, like the sea and moor. Dickinson can see nature and engage in the eternal, yet the speaker of the poem does not have to do either to know of their existence.

The formal choices in the first two lines of each stanza shows the speaker’s feelings towards the subjects at hand. Dickinson ends the first line with a period which is rare for her poetry. The second line states a new fact similar to the first: she has never seen a moor or the sea. Both of these parts of nature are physical, definite, and secure. However, in the second stanza she uses enjambment to tie the thoughts of God and heaven to the freedom in the metaphysical world. God and heaven are not concrete but abstract, as is her lack of punctuation between the lines. This is a subtle choice, but clearly intentional as Dickinson always was about her punctuation and formal choices.

https://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2017/09/heather-on-the-moors.html
http://edl.byu.edu/