Please help me with this Dicikinson poem

Question

Hi,I was given the follwing Dicikinson poem to translate:I gave myself to him,And took himself for pay.The solemn contract of a lifeWas ratified this wayThe value might disappoint,Myself a poorer proveThan this my purchaser suspect,The daily own of LoveDepreciates the sight;But, 'til the merchant buy,Still fabled, in the isles of spiceThe subtle cargoes lie.At least, 'tis mutual risk,¡XSome found it mutual gain;Sweet debt of Life,¡Xeach night to owe,Insolvent, every noon.The three verses I can't understand are:Myself a poorer proveThan this my purchaser suspect,The daily own of Loveparticulary the phrase "the daily own of Love".Could someone who knows the meaning here please explain it to me?Thank you for your help.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]The three verses I can't understand are: Myself a poorer prove Than this my purchaser suspect, The daily own of Love particulary the phrase "the daily own of Love".[/nq]Emily Dickinson speaks of "the solemn contract of a life" when writing about marriage. There's an expression "to contract marriage" (to enter into marriage), and the poet calls it to mind with her poem. She also writes, for example, "purchaser" and "merchant" for the man she marries, words that might be used with a contract in another sense. "Prove" is an old noun form meaning "proof." She says she might be a "poorer proof" of the "contract of life" (the marriage) than the groom is, that is she may not be such a good catch.

She talks about "the daily own (ownership) of Love" which, she says, "depreciates the sight" (of it). She ends, however, on an optimistic note, saying that both bride and bridegroom are at risk ("mutual risk") and she holds out hope that both will benefit ("mutual gain").

Regards, WB.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]The three verses I can't understand are: Myself a poorer ... of Love particulary the phrase "the daily own of Love".[/nq]
[nq:1]Emily Dickinson speaks of "the solemn contract of a life" when writing about marriage. There's an expression "to contract marriage" ... bridegroom are at risk ("mutual risk") and she holds out hope that both will benefit ("mutual gain"). Regards, WB.[/nq]
Apologies for hitch-hiking; I haven't got the OP on my server. I would say the line "Myself a poorer prove" could be expanded to a plain-language "I myself might prove a poorer purchaser" (another version of the next line reads "Than this great purchaser suspect,"). I agree about "own" meaning ownership, or rather the act of owning (both senses), and I would say there's also an allusion to the common expression of endearment, "my own". The daily repetition of love may mean that its eventual fulfillment (when the distant cargoes come in) will be less keenly felt.
Needless to say (so I'll say it), while it's useful to work out all the good stuff compacted into a poem like that, the thing then is to read it over a lot, and let it sink in. Especially if the OP is an English speaker, his subconscious will be able to figure it out.

Oh, and most people would say that those are three lines, not three verses. CDB

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi, I was given the follwing Dicikinson poem to translate: I gave myself to him, And took himself for pay. ... particulary the phrase "the daily own of Love". Could someone who knows the meaning here please explain it to me?[/nq]
Part of the problem with Emily is that people have been buggering about with (Lit. Eng "editing") her stuff ever since she write it. So meanings can vary according to how you believe the punctuation should go and whether the editor of your edition has "improved" the meaning by altering words or phases as well.
For example, you quote "Depreciates the sight" here where the Bartleby on-line version says "Depreciate the sight", as if the third verse is beginning with an injunction quite separate from the last line of verse two.
My edition reads the same as yours in that respect. Which means that, to understand the lines you quote, you need to take into account that the next line is an integral part of the meaning, as is the preceding line. So:
(My edition has a full stop after "way" in the previous line)

The value might disappoint,
Myself a poorer prove
Than this my purchaser suspect,
The daily own of Love
Depreciates the sight;
And just for fun, let me quote the lines as they appear in my edition (which is a copy of the edition published late 19th Century edited by Mabel Loomis Todd and TW Higginson)
The wealth might disappoint,
Myself a poorer prove
Than this great* purchaser suspect:*
The daily own of Love
Depreciates the vision;
She's saying that the man (more of that later) has in some way "paid" for her - perhaps a dowry of some kind, perhaps the investment of his feelings and that he might find himself disappointed that she is not worth as much, not as good value, as he thought (she is "a poorer" (bargain) than he suspected. Having the daily "possession" of the one you love tends to devalue them in your sight.
Now. As to the "man" and the nature of the contract. Emily never married. There is still raging controversy as to whether she ever had a romantic relationship with a man or even entertained strong feelings for one. It's certainly the case that she became a virtual recluse in the last twenty years or so of her life and that the emotional impetus behind much of her poetry is a mystery.
Which leads us to question of who is the other party in the contract here. Death features almost as often in Emily's stuff as he does in Terry Pratchett's. Is this him here, trading off extra years of life for her in return for her poetry? Is it *** doing that?

Anyway, whoever requires you to translate this is a ****** and troublemaker.
I would paraphrase the lines into modern English thus:

The value (of the contract) might be a disappointment (to the purchaser) and I might be worth less than the purchaser imagines. Having your loved one with you every day makes you appreciate them less as they become more familiar.

John Dean
Oxford

Usenet · Answer

Hi,
(this is a customary casual signal of salutation, a means of harmoniously relating)
I was given the follwing Dicikinson poem to translate:

(your teacher made ya an assignment, and you're thinking what have i got to lose other than my self-dignity?)
I gave myself to him,
(indulged in a mutually gratifying exercise, while attempts to portray as magnanimity or subordination or gifting, certainly not of the women's lib era)
And took himself for pay.
( no $ was paid for this s act?)
The solemn contract of a life
(perhaps an actual conception &/or thought of as holy-like act in life)
Was ratified this way
(nevermind that previous over-interpretation, this obviously means the act gets some kind of an approval by 2/3 of the u.s. senate if bill frist has a say in it)
The value might disappoint,
(after its all over then so what? just take a shower and leave)
Myself a poorer prove
(feels de-graded?)
Than this my purchaser suspect,
(buyers/screwer's remorse?)
The daily own of Love
(hey, what's luv got to do with ***?)
Depreciates the sight
( abstinence-abstinence-abstinence is better than not? give me a break)
But, 'til the merchant buy,
(commerce is the root of all that is at the 7-11)
Still fabled, in the isles of spice
(a ship loaded with bounty from the west indies)
The subtle cargoes lie.
(sledgehammer open that damne shipping container)
At least, 'tis mutual risk,=A1X
(ooops, venereal disease)
Some found it mutual gain;
(win-win, i'm ok, you're ok)
Sweet debt of Life,=A1Xeach night to owe,
(a borrower or lender be)
Insolvent, every noon.
(foreclosure sale at courthouse on first tuesday of month)
The three verses I can't understand are:
(then openly translate the thing here toof, and we'll try to make sense of the puzzlers in the context you slant toward)
Myself a poorer prove
Than this my purchaser suspect,
The daily own of Love
particulary the phrase "the daily own of Love".
Could someone who knows the meaning here please explain it to me?
Thank you for your help.
Reply
I am obviously no fan of Emily nor of poetry in general, and am almost sorry to have wasted your valuable time.
The thing starts out as some kind of *** affair and ends up taking spice from the innocents (?)
Was she a Marxixt?
She oughta be investigated by HUAC, blacklisted, and then write poetry for Woody Allen's movie THE FRONT or MASH.

Usenet · Answer

First we must check the premise:
bhaTak kar vo aaye, hai unko bataanaa
keh mahfil yahaan kartii urduu zabaanaa
(He strayed into our midst, and we must tell him:) (The language we use here is Urdu)
na samjho javaab ab agar tum ye meraa
to siikho zabaa.n-e-sukhanwar lagaanaa
(If you don/t understand the answer,)
(Please try to learn the poet's language)
Now the three lines:
nahii.n aataa mujh ko Khudii kaa dikhaanaa
to kaise vo samjhe ye meraa fasaanaa
( I am a poor sales-person, she laments,)
(And he does not understand me)
muhabbat kii baate.n muhaabat se hotii.n,
havas roz lekin hai kartii sataanaa
(Love needs a tender care,)
( not a daily assault)
agar tum samjh lo mire is bayaa.n ko,
to mushkil nahii.n hai javaab ab banaanaa
(If you can decipher this little riddle - elementary my Doubter Watson,)
(The answer to your problem is a small matter)
Gentle-people, please leave "alt.language.urdu.poetry" out of this loop, unless you wish to analyze the poetry of Ghalib, Faiz, Sahir et al, instead of relishing 'imlii'.
Thank you
An Aluper

Please help me with this Dicikinson poem

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions