Literary Criticism: Emily Dickinson

“Prudent in an Emergency!”: Dickinson’s Autonomous Authority

Emily Dickinson plants seeds of doubt and cynicism in her poetry. As a writer of the 19th century, Dickinson embodies Emersonian ideals of non-conformity and introspective truth. She places an emphasis on self-reliance and general distrust of conventional authority. Specifically Dickinson questions the authoritarian importance placed on organized religion. Her poems, “Those dying then”, “Faith is a fine invention”, and “Some keep the Sabbath going to Chruch”, present an opposition to religious authority and conformity through satiric exaggeration, explicit comparison, and dismissal of convention. Dickinson elucidates a poetic manifesto on the importance of autonomous authority.

Dickinson examines the control that religious faith has in her poem “Those dying then” (See Appendix 1.1). This poem can be read from the perspective of a doubtful Christian. The end of the poem suggests that despite the disillusionment the reader has with their theology, religious authority forces them into a conformed practice. The poem begins with a brief history of Christian belief. The poem states, “Those -- dying then, / Knew where they went--” (Dickinson, Those). This alludes to how past Christians used to have such a strong faith that they could not be convinced that they knew their fate in the afterlife. This fanatical faith is contrasted with the faith of the speaker’s present, “That Hand is amputated now / And God cannot be found--” (Dickinson, Those). The important word in this stanza is amputated. This word has a specific connotation to science, as the deliberate act of removing a limb. In the poem, God’s right hand is amputated and that is why he cannot be found. Amputation is performed to save a life by preventing the spread of an infection; however, it makes little sense for God to amputate his own limb to save himself from the infection of humanity. Instead, the term amputation functions as a stand in for science and reason. God’s limb is amputated deliberately by reason. Faith in God defies the constraints of reason and science; therefore, people are casting God aside because theology does not fit into their secular rationality. Reason is amputating ties to supernatural belief in order to save itself from the infection of faith.

With this interpretation, the second stanza also implies a deliberate act of relinquishing religious faith. The poem states, “The abdication of Belief / Makes the Behavior small--” (Dickinson, Those). Abdication is another deliberate action in which the speaker is giving up belief in supernatural theology. The speaker is now amputated from God and abdicated of belief, and each of these words imply that rationality is what severed man from God. Despite the speaker’s complete rejection of supernatural belief they do not disregard their religious practices. The idea of “an ignis fatuus” is better “Than no illume at all--” (Dickinson, Those). The speaker comes to the conclusion that it is better to submit to a false faith than to not have any supernatural belief at all. This is where this poem functions more as satire. Dickinson creates a speaker who is full of theological doubts, but they are fully pressed by the weight of religious authority. Dickinson’s speaker in this poem represents a person who has enough reason to doubt blind faith, but not enough reliance on himself to turn their back on all of religion. Dickinson exaggerates the authority religion has over people in order to make readers skeptical of conformity.

Dickinson’s poem “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church” (See Appendix 1.3) suggests an Emersonian idea of anti-conformity. In this poem the speaker is decidedly not conforming to the orthodox Christian tenet of Sabbath by going to Church. The speaker keeps the Sabbath by “staying at Home – / With a Bobolink for a Chorister – / And an Orchard, for a Dome –” (Dickinson, Some). The speaker does not break the Sabbath, but rather honors it in a different manner. The position the speaker takes is opposed to the convention of the time, but the speaker and conventional religion do agree. They both keep the Sabbath and believe in working towards Heaven, the speaker just disagrees how to practice these two things. Conventional religion would state that you make it to Heaven “at last” (Dickinson, Some). The speaker believes they are“going, all along” to Heaven (Dickinson, Some). Instead of listening to sermons and bells in order to get to Heaven after, the speaker experiences nature and is constantly in a heavenly presence.

“Some keep the Sabbath going to Church” mirrors the poem “Those dying then”, but they are oppositional. In “Those dying then” the speaker doubts conventional religious theology, but the speaker conforms to the practices anyways. The speaker of “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church” agrees with conventional theology and still does not conform to orthodox religious practices. Within the context of each other these poems explore the authority of religion and the freedom of non-conformity. Where Emerson would say “imitation is suicide,” Dickinson would argue that conformity is weak, and submissive. These poems construct the notion that conforming to an “ignis fatuus” places authority in the hands of convention and self-reliance places the authority in personal autonomy. In the poem “Those dying then” the authority is centered around illumination and religion, even after the speaker deliberately broke away from belief, the conventional theology still holds the power. The authority in “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church” never leaves the speaker. The speaker makes the choice autonomously whether or not they will go to Heaven.

Dickinson questions where authority lies because autonomous authority becomes essential to progressivism. “Faith is a fine invention” (See Appendix 1.2) emphasizes the importance of where authority lies when put into the context of social change. This poem functions as an explicit comparison between faith and microscopes. The poem describes faith as a “fine invention/ for Gentlemen who see!” (Dickinson, Faith). Opposingly, the poem states that “Microscopes are Prudent / In an Emergency!” Faith becomes a tool used by seeing Gentlemen, but microscopes are tools that are more useful in emergencies. The terms faith and microscopes can be read as metaphors that stand in for larger ideas. Faith represents the authority of conventional religion wielded only by important men. The microscopes symbolize the notion of science, rationality, and self-reliance. Within this context, the poem is read as a manifesto articulating that authority held by religion works in favor of higher class men . Antithetically autonomous authority is not only favorable, but also required for any sort of social emergence. On the scales of social justice, microscopes appear to weigh more than faith.

Dickinson’s poems place an importance on doubt as a means for non-conformity. When these three poems are read in context with each other, they describe similar descents from conventional Christian belief. Initial doubt in the practices of a system is the first step to self-reliance. After having doubts, the speakers question their faith. Once they have probed their beliefs, the speakers either abdicate them, conform to them, or autonomously derive heavenly authority. Dickinson demonstrates that the pulpit’s authority can be deviated from. Through Emersonian self-reliance and Dickinsonian non-conformity one can remove authority from the pulpit and put authority in autonomy. Dickinson doesn’t only declare that conventional authority is unjust, she proclaims that self authority is “Prudent in an Emergency!” (Dickinson, Faith). The complete authority to institute any progressive change comes from the self. The autonomy Dickinson preaches is not meant to push religion out of America; instead, it is to institute a new democratic voice for everyone.

Works Cited

Dickinson, Emily. “Faith is a fine invention.” Franklin, R. W. The Poems of Emily Dickinson.

Cambridge: Belknap of Harvard UP, 1999. Print.

Dickinson, Emily. “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church.” Franklin, R. W. The Poems of

Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: Belknap of Harvard UP, 1999. Print.

Dickinson, Emily. “Those dying then.” “Those -- Dying Then, - A Poem by Emily Dickinson.”

Those -- Dying Then, - A Poem by Emily Dickinson - American Poems. American Poems,

9 Jan. 2004. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.

Appendix 1.1

“Those dying then”

Those -- dying then, Knew where they went -- They went to God's Right Hand -- That Hand is amputated now And God cannot be found -- The abdication of Belief Makes the Behavior small -- Better an ignis fatuus Than no illume at all --

Appendix 1.2

“Faith is a fine invention”

“Faith” is a fine invention

For Gentlemen who see!

But Microscopes are prudent

In an Emergency!

Appendix 1.3

“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.