My recent posts have centered on Dickinson’s poem “The Heart asks Pleasure – first,” a work about which Mabel Loomis Todd gushed, “Oh how could Emily epitomize life so perfectly and with such bitter force! With hardly a shadow of form, this poem almost breaks my heart.” Yesterday’s discussion of it – which included comparisons to Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” and Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” – is HERE.
One last thing about this poem – the word “Inquisitor” in line 7, “The will of its Inquisitor.” Who is this – “Inquisitor”?
Let’s start with the pronoun “its” (as in “ITS Inquisitor”). The antecedent must be “The Heart,” for the subject of the poem is “the Heart,” the entity that asks Pleasure – first – and then progresses through stages of pleasure, pain, rehabilitation, and what seems to be more-than-forty winks – as ITS Inquisitor determines if “IT” (the Heart) has earned an entitlement (the privilege to die). Therefore, the Inquisitor must be God, right?
Sure seems so – except the Dickinson Lexicon has me second-guessing as it furnishes only “Inquirer, seeker, investigator; one who inquires” as Dickinson’s meaning for her use of the word; however, if the “Inquisitor” is merely ”one who Inquires,” who would hold such momentous power over “The Heart”? Is this, instead, about a lost “lover” who – metaphorically – kills off “the heart”?
“The Heart asks pleasure – first” is the only poem in which Dickinson used the word “Inquisitor”; however, this work called to mind another poem which uses the word “inquire,” “The Soul should always stand ajar” (just FYI: “inquire” shows up in four of Dickinson’s poems, and “inquires” – with an “s” – adds a fifth).
Let’s start with the pronoun “its” (as in “ITS Inquisitor”). The antecedent must be “The Heart,” for the subject of the poem is “the Heart,” the entity that asks Pleasure – first – and then progresses through stages of pleasure, pain, rehabilitation, and what seems to be more-than-forty winks – as ITS Inquisitor determines if “IT” (the Heart) has earned an entitlement (the privilege to die). Therefore, the Inquisitor must be God, right?
Sure seems so – except the Dickinson Lexicon has me second-guessing as it furnishes only “Inquirer, seeker, investigator; one who inquires” as Dickinson’s meaning for her use of the word; however, if the “Inquisitor” is merely ”one who Inquires,” who would hold such momentous power over “The Heart”? Is this, instead, about a lost “lover” who – metaphorically – kills off “the heart”?
“The Heart asks pleasure – first” is the only poem in which Dickinson used the word “Inquisitor”; however, this work called to mind another poem which uses the word “inquire,” “The Soul should always stand ajar” (just FYI: “inquire” shows up in four of Dickinson’s poems, and “inquires” – with an “s” – adds a fifth).
 | In this poem, the speaker advises that “The Soul” should remain open – even if only just a crack – so that “if the Heaven inquire / He will not be obliged to wait." Hmm…in this case, are “the Heaven,” the entity making the inquiry, and “He,” who would not be obliged to wait, interchangeable? Is this God? Is “God” the “Inquisitor” – so that “God” and “Heaven” are one and the same? And by the way, should the Dickinson Lexicon expand their interpretation for Dickinson’s use of “Inquisitor”? |
| I will say, in either case – whether “Heaven” and “God” are one and the same in this poem or not – they seem (or at least “He” seems) as insensitive (dare I say “heartless”?) as the “Approving God” in the poem “Apparently with no surprise.” |  |
I digress. Back to “The Soul should always stand ajar.” Take a look at “the Host” in line 5. Is this the Soul? So the Soul – which should stand ajar – may later be the one to slide “The Bolt unto the Door”? OR – is “the Host” the “Heavenly Host” (which made the inquiry in line 2) – and might it/they bolt the door? Who is bolting the door? Did you note that Dickinson used the plural form “have” and not the singular “has” in line 5? Then those final lines seem to indicate that “the accomplished Guest,” the Soul’s ”Visitor” (God),is separate from “Heaven” – if “Heaven’" is “the Host.”
Anyway, I’m just trying to iron this out to understand the essence of Dickinson’s “Inquisitor” – and to press the need for clear antecedents.
Anyway, I’m just trying to iron this out to understand the essence of Dickinson’s “Inquisitor” – and to press the need for clear antecedents.
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