A question for my friends list, especially those who are into the 19th century

[snowywolfowl]

Tonight during my American Lit class we were discussing Emily Dickinson's poetry, and this poem caused some confusion:

"The thought beneath so slight a film
Is more distinctly seen, ---
As laces just reveal the surge,
Or mists the Apennine."

My question refers to the third line. What is surge and how would it relate to lace? Nobody in my class from the

Comments

Cynical Stephen says...

[bluesman]

Years of wading through such difficult stuff at school taught me that, if you have to try to decide what is being said, it's probably not worth it!

Re: Cynical Stephen says...

[snowywolfowl]

I'm going to disagree on that one. This line may be referring to a physical object or process so I'm going to call down the experts on it. As for the subtle meanings and nuances of her poetry, well, that's my job. And its my job since I'm hoping this piece of paper gets me more cash in the future. :)

[koshka_the_cat]

My immediate thought is a lace like a corset lace. I'm not exactly sure how that would relate to a surge though. Maybe a surge of breath or blood if they're loosened?

I'm very much not a poetry person!

[snowywolfowl]

Don't worry about whether or not you're a poetry person, that's my job here. I just need your costumer's brain since you know only about 1000000 times more stuff on this than I ever will. :)

So a corset lace is like a shoe lace then? Maybe. The only thing that makes me wonder is that she's talking about a film through which a person is looking through at the beginning, and then looking at mountains through mists in the next line. Its making me think that the lace is placed over something? Is there any construction technique this could be referring during the time this poem was written? It dates from around 1860, if that helps.

Well, what d'you know...?

[bluesman]

I saw it and thought, it's about a girl who's wearing something a bit revealing, but then I thought, no, you're being a pig. Then I looked on the internet, and that's what it's about. The lace of her dress reveals the surge of her bosom. It's the first line that would fox me.

Why would E Dickinson write about this? I know nothing about her.

Re: Well, what d'you know...?

[snowywolfowl]

No, you're not being a pig. I've thrown this one open because I need different view points, so please don't feel like you need to self censure or self edit your thoughts. That's my job on this. :-)

Dickinson was a very solitary person. At one point she only spoke to close relatives through a closed door so I'm not sure her clothing is revealing her, but then again, I don't know for certain what this line literally means.

[myladyswardrobe]

On reading this a couple of times, I don't think this is anything to do with corset laces or clothing being revealing. Especially after you say that Emily was very withdrawn.

I think the clue is in the very last line - http://warsztat.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/appennini_apennine_ski_alpinism.jpg

teleimeister I think is close...is the third line an analogy of lace? - you can see through it but not clearly. The surge is perhaps what is seen beneath the "lace" becomes clearer? But I don't know if it is her breast.

I don't know but thats my feeling.

Next question, did Emily Dickinson ever travel to Europe, and in particular the Apennine Mountains in Italy?

[snowywolfowl]

Well, during the discussion of this poem tonight we determined that Dickinson's imagery is of things that are being seen more clearly due to something translucent being interposed between the viewer and the object. Hence the film between the speaker and the thought, the lace between the surge, and the mist between the Apennine Mountains. We figured out what the first and third objects are but noone can figure out what "surge" is. Since it involved lace and an object I figured I'd call in some support from the experts to see if this might be a piece of clothing, or some sort of fabric concept.

I'm not sure if it is her breast or not (my gut is saying no, but if the evidence supports it...) but I'd like to find out what it might be.

As for your question as far as I can determine Emily Dickinson never really physically travelled very far in her life, and certainly not to Italy. She was however very well educated for the time, and well read.

[sewaddicted]

My guess is the surge or rise of her bosom - and the Apenines could refer to the cleavage between them. I wouldn't assume because she was reclusive that she was prudish.

[snowywolfowl]

Hmmm. You do make a good point on the dangers of assumption. There really is no evidence that she was prudish.