Guilty Pleasure

Yesterday I discussed the topic of Emily Dickinson and cheese.  Yes, you read that correctly, Dickinson and cheese – and while she never used the word “cheese” in any of her poems, I did come across some interesting connections. 

Today, I have a few more particulars related to this topic – for example, did Dickinson ever use the word “curds”? – but first, let me provide a not-so-in-depth discussion of the definitions of cheese. I have to admit, I was more than a bit surprised when so many definitions popped up.  Here are nine, and there were more (and I promise not to mention the one associated with the phrase “cut the cheese”):

Dictionary.com also included metalworking and a slow curtsy as definitions for “cheese.”  Huh?

I had no idea that this coagulated protein was so…protean.  LOL – how is that for some top-notch word play?

Anyway, I checked to see if Dickinson ever used the word “curd” or “curds.”  Nope.  However, she did use the word “curdled” in one poem,  “There is an arid Pleasure” – and what a poem that is!  There is so much power packed into those eight lines!

I LOVE that comparison of “arid Pleasure” and Joy to Frost and Dew:  like elements, but fundamentally opposed (“one – rejoices Flowers / And one – the Flowers abhor”).  I find it interesting to note that Dickinson is not talking about the opposite of joy, something like misery or despair; instead she’s pairing joy with pleasure, “like elements,” but asserting that they are antithetical – and it all boils down to that word “arid.”

So what of that use of the word “arid”?  Does she mean “dry,” as in a feeling of satisfaction that is now dry and joyless? “Arid” used to modify the sensation of pleasure? It just seemed odd to me.

I checked the Dickinson Lexicon to see how “arid” was used in her poems, and take a look at the entry – and by the way,  this is exactly as it appears on the page, all run together like this:  

“Dry; thirsty; scorched; barren; exhausted of moisture; parched with heat; [fig.] wry; ironic; warped; sardonic; [fig.] tedious; drab; dull; monotonous.”

So perhaps she’s talking about an “ironic” pleasure? Warped?  Sardonic?

Well, the poem highlights a “curdled” experience, so something that was, at some point, pleasurable but is now destructive to the spirit, no longer truly joyful.

The phrase “arid pleasure” seemed so unique to me, so distinct – so Dickinson-esque  (LOL – I often read lines in Dickinson’s letters -- in complete awe -- and think to myself, “who says something like this”), so I looked into how and how often Dickinson used the word “arid” – and wait until you hear what I found.  Three things to be exact.  One involves a weird typo; one involves a second poem; and one involves James Joyce.

Stay tuned!