In yesterday’s post, I shared some contranyms (a single word with two opposite meanings), and I included Dickinson’s “How happy is the little stone,” a poem which I can interpret in opposing ways. The poem, to me, is contranym-ish – like those optical illusions of steps that seem to change direction – even as you’re looking right at them.
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On one hand, the poem extols “the virtues of the humble stone, content in its simplicity and freedom from worldly concerns” (quoted from an analysis HERE). On the other hand, it seems to expose the conundrum of dealing with the “poorly educated” – they’re dumb as rocks.
Which way do you read this poem?
Dickinson scholar Thomas Johnson’s notes about the work state, “Three fair copies and the worksheet draft of this poem are known; a fourth, now lost, presumably sent to Mrs. Jackson.”
One version of the poem sent in a letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson included these lines as a separate quatrain:
Obtaining but our own extent
In whatsoever Realm –
'Twas Christ's own personal expanse
That bore him from the Tomb –
Concerning this addition, Johnson commented, “Taken together the fourteen lines express a sequence of thought, from the completely fulfilled but soulless pebble to the limitless Christ who is only fulfilled in immortality.”
Under another version of the ten-line poem, as a letter-poem sent to her sister-in-law Susan, Dickinson wrote, “Heaven the surly Balm of a Technicality!"
Of that sentiment, Johnson wrote, “The thought seems to be a reflection on the Calvinist orthodoxy that only the ‘saved’ get into heaven.”
I have to add, though, that I was surprised by Dickinson’s use of the word “technicality” – it seems like such a modern word; however, the use of the word “per million words in written English” from 1850 until today has remained rather constant. Turns out Dickinson even used the word in one poem, “'Twas awkward, but it fitted me.”
As for that “happy little stone,” here are the letters associated with the poem:
*I’ve seen this letter dated 1880, 1881, and 1882.
Which way do you read this poem?
Dickinson scholar Thomas Johnson’s notes about the work state, “Three fair copies and the worksheet draft of this poem are known; a fourth, now lost, presumably sent to Mrs. Jackson.”
One version of the poem sent in a letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson included these lines as a separate quatrain:
Obtaining but our own extent
In whatsoever Realm –
'Twas Christ's own personal expanse
That bore him from the Tomb –
Concerning this addition, Johnson commented, “Taken together the fourteen lines express a sequence of thought, from the completely fulfilled but soulless pebble to the limitless Christ who is only fulfilled in immortality.”
Under another version of the ten-line poem, as a letter-poem sent to her sister-in-law Susan, Dickinson wrote, “Heaven the surly Balm of a Technicality!"
Of that sentiment, Johnson wrote, “The thought seems to be a reflection on the Calvinist orthodoxy that only the ‘saved’ get into heaven.”
I have to add, though, that I was surprised by Dickinson’s use of the word “technicality” – it seems like such a modern word; however, the use of the word “per million words in written English” from 1850 until today has remained rather constant. Turns out Dickinson even used the word in one poem, “'Twas awkward, but it fitted me.”
As for that “happy little stone,” here are the letters associated with the poem:
- In this April 1882 letter to Thomas Niles (HERE), she enclosed a copy of the poem.
- In this summer 1882 letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson (HERE), Dickinson included the poem as a part of the letter with the added/separate quatrain.
- Also in 1882*, Dickinson sent the poem as a letter to her sister-in-law Susan. In this letter, she included the line, “Heaven the Surly Balm of a Technicality.” I could find only one online transcript of the letter, and interestingly, it includes an error in final statement; it has “Heaven the Balm of a SURLY Technicality" (below on the left). That transcript is HERE (scroll down to letter 744).
*I’ve seen this letter dated 1880, 1881, and 1882.
| Below: From Cristanne Miller's edition The Letters of Emily Dickinson, a copy of Dickinson's letter to Susan with the final line shown correctly (click to enlarge).  | Below: From Cristanne Miller's The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson as She Preserved Them, Dickinson's "How happy is the little stone" with alternate line and word choices shown on the right.  |
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