A few days ago I shared information about Dickinson’s poems with the word “window” (HERE).
Today I thought I’d share another “window” poem, “By my window have I for scenery.” In this poem Dickinson describes a “sea” of inspiration right outside her bedroom window in the form of a pine tree, complete with a route to the sky, a peninsula for squirrels, inlands of earth below, and more.
Today I thought I’d share another “window” poem, “By my window have I for scenery.” In this poem Dickinson describes a “sea” of inspiration right outside her bedroom window in the form of a pine tree, complete with a route to the sky, a peninsula for squirrels, inlands of earth below, and more.
Hmm…but was this tree really directly outside Dickinson’s window? Or was this a symbolic tree outside an imaginary window in a make-believe bedroom? After all, in 1862 Dickinson wrote to Thomas Wentworth Higginson and said, “When I state myself, as the Representative of the Verse—it does not mean—me—but a supposed person.” So was this tree in view of the "supposed" speaker in the poem?
The view from Emily Dickinson's bedroom window was extensive. It included the Dickinson hay meadow, Amherst College buildings, and the Holyoke Range. Also visible were The Evergreens (her brother's house) and the path between the two homes – and various trees.
Check out Dickinson’s bedroom (and the window) in a great video from Dan Madsen, HERE.
The view from Emily Dickinson's bedroom window was extensive. It included the Dickinson hay meadow, Amherst College buildings, and the Holyoke Range. Also visible were The Evergreens (her brother's house) and the path between the two homes – and various trees.
Check out Dickinson’s bedroom (and the window) in a great video from Dan Madsen, HERE.
 |  |
Based on available information, it is possible that a pine tree was visible from the poet’s bedroom window. One source, “Emily Dickinson, Face to Face” by her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, explicitly mentions a pine tree at the end of the driveway:
“We did not merely learn her from her poems and letters, but knew her as part of our every day. The little notes she sent to our mother and ourselves went hand in hand with Mother Goose. A beloved matter-of-course to us, we never reasoned about her any more than how the tallest pine got where it was on the old driveway.”
Annnddd…here we have a pine tree as the significant element of scenery in "By my Window have I for Scenery.”
So what do you think? Was the “I” in this poem actually meant to be the poet herself?
“We did not merely learn her from her poems and letters, but knew her as part of our every day. The little notes she sent to our mother and ourselves went hand in hand with Mother Goose. A beloved matter-of-course to us, we never reasoned about her any more than how the tallest pine got where it was on the old driveway.”
Annnddd…here we have a pine tree as the significant element of scenery in "By my Window have I for Scenery.”
So what do you think? Was the “I” in this poem actually meant to be the poet herself?
RSS Feed
