~~~Emily Dickinson A-Poem-A-Day~~~"There is a morn by men unseen -" 24/1775

"There is a morn by men unseen -"

"There is a morn by men unseen -
Whose maids opon remoter green
Keep their seraphic May -
And all day long, with dance and game,
And gambo! I may never name -
Employ their holiday.

Here to light measure, move the feet
Which walk no more the village street -
Nor by the wood are found -
Here are the birds that sought the sun
When last year's distaff idle hung
And summer's brows were bound.

Ne'er saw I such a wondrous scene -
Ne'er such a ring on such a green -
Nor so serene array -
As if the stars some summer night
Should swing their cups of Chrysolite -
And revel till the day -

Like thee to dance - like thee to sing -
People opon that mystic green -
I ask, each new May morn.
I wait thy far - fantastic bells -
Announcing me in other dells -
Unto the different dawn!

[edit] Version 2
There is a morn by men unseen —
Whose maids upon remoter green
Keep their Seraphic May —
And all day long, with dance and game,
And gambol I may never name —
Employ their holiday.

Here to light measure, move the feet
Which walk no more the village street —
Nor by the wood are found —
Here are the birds that sought the sun
When last year's distaff idle hung
And summer's brows were bound.

Ne'er saw I such a wondrous scene —
Ne'er such a ring on such a green —
Nor so serene array —
As if the stars some summer night
Should swing their cups of Chrysolite —
And revel till the day —

Like thee to dance — like thee to sing —
People upon the mystic green —
I ask, each new May Morn.
I wait thy far, fantastic bells —
Unto the different dawn!"

Poem by Emily Dickinson

Wow! Emily is in very ecryptic today! Lots of mystery here to unravel! Many words not in common usage must be defined. This will take some time!

"There is a morn by men unseen -
Whose maids opon remoter green
Keep their seraphic May -
And all day long, with dance and game
And gambo! I may never name -
Employ their holiday."

Emily's imagination is rampant in this poem. Setting up a fantasy world which is "unseen" by men in a "morn" unknown. There are "maids" there, women working but who are on a "holiday" in "seraphic" or angelic "May". All day long they "dance" and "game" and "gambo". After trying diligently to research the word "gambo" I am stuck (again!). Gambo has multiple references. Gambo could refer to a place in Newfoundland (this I doubt was Emily's intent for this word) or lately, and I have not found a reference for "gambo" during Emily's time. In contemporary times a "gambo" was found in the sea. It is a cryptozoological being, a sea monster that looks like a combination alligator and dolphin. How would that happen? Here is the wikipedia reference'

"The carcass of the Gambo was reported to have been discovered by 15-year-old Owen Burnham and his family on the morning of June 12, 1983. Owen, a wildlife enthusiast, decided to take measurements and then make sketches". (wikipedia 'gambo').

Unlikely this would be Emily's source for this word. Maybe Emily was making merry and in gest, in her usual lively way with words, a gambol could be a homonymn for "gamble". So there was gambling happening at this "fete". I think, recently we had an Emily poem on Gambling. (not the Vegas icon). So Emily is a gambler, eh? Maybe? What else can one do in those stuffy Victorian parlours but play abit of poker? Emily IS game!

"Here to light measure, move the feet
Which walk no more the village street -
Nor by the wood are found -
Here are the birds that sought the sun
When last year's distaff idle hung
And summer's brows were bound."

This above stanza is quite vexing as well with a little bit of pre-feminist angst thrown in for measure by Ms Emily. Here Emily is saying that "light" will be the measure, like heavenly light in this far away place of seraphim (Emily has used seraphim reference in a previous poem). So no longer in the "village" (Emily referred to the "village" in a poem with the Bargemen. Emily's fantastic belief in this village with waiting angels like on the shore of Hades waiting for a boatride to the farshare almost a combination of ancient Greek myth and Christian belief systems.) Emily's birds play a part in this poem too, and the "distaff" is "idle hung". I didn't know what a "distaff" was either as it is not in common usage today. A distaff is;

"As a noun, a distaff (also called a rock[1]) is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly used to hold flax, and sometimes wool, but can be used for any type of fiber. Fiber is wrapped around the distaff, and tied in place with a piece of ribbon or string. The word comes from dis in Low German, meaning a bunch of flax, connected with staff. As an adjective the term distaff is used to describe the female side of a family."

a tool used to make wool into fabric, for spinning. However, there is a slang term for "distaff" that may be more on the bias for Emily. A "distaff" "is used to describe the female side of a family". How unusual! Unique Victorian dictums and idioms! How wide open can my eyes get today. There were slang secret codes! Maybe due to the fear of being "upfront" and "in the face" which was definitely NOT appreciated by strict Victorian standards. Emily may be poking fun at her "old maid" status here as it probably was the "talk of the town". Being that her father had such a prominent position in Amherst, MA, her own grandfather having started the college. Tongues must have been "a wagging" so Emily, undoubtledly capitalized on her own plight of the unwedded daughter. Maybe a slight poke at the way women were treated; for posterity; that someday, someone like me would come along and figure out her deepest heart-felt secrets kept hidden in her top drawer where she must have kept her bloomers!

"Ne'er saw I such a wondrous scene -
Ne'er such a ring on such a green -
Nor so serene array -
As if the stars some summer night
Should swing their cups of Chrysolite -
And revel till the day -"

Emily continues in the above stanza to revel in the "wondrous scene" to be ensconced with resounding merriment. The use of the old English "Ne'er" is amazing, repeated almost three times and then the "homonymn-type" "Nor" so close to "Ne'er". So never three times in chorus-like song rendering, giving a feeling of a medieval fair, like Camelot. So there was peace there in the merriment too "serene". I love the next lines "As if the stars some summer night Should swing their cups of Chrysollite and revel till the day". The stars would get drunk? Emily!!!

I love the word Chrysolite. Let's look that up!

"It is also called chrysolite, from the Greek words for gold and stone. Some of the finest gem-quality olivine has been obtained from a body of mantle rocks." (Wiki)

The mineral olivine (when gem-quality also called peridot) is a magnesium iron silicate with the formula (Mg,Fe)2SiO4. It is one of the most common minerals on Earth, and has also been identified in meteorites[4], the Moon, Mars[5], in the dust of comet Wild 2, and within the core of comet Tempel 1[6].

The ratio of magnesium and iron varies between the two endmembers of the solid solution series: forsterite (Mg-endmember) and fayalite (Fe-endmember). Compositions of olivine are commonly expressed as molar percentages of forsterite (Fo) and fayalite (Fa) (e.g., Fo70Fa30). Forsterite has an unusually high melting temperature at atmospheric pressure, almost 1900 °C, but the melting temperature of fayalite is much lower (about 1200 °C). The melting temperature varies smoothly between the two endmembers, as do other properties. Olivine incorporates only minor amounts of elements other than oxygen, silicon, magnesium, and iron. Manganese and nickel commonly are the additional elements present in highest concentrations.

Olivine gives its name to the group of minerals with a related structure (the olivine group) which includes tephroite (Mn2SiO4), monticellite (CaMgSiO4), and kirschsteinite (CaFeSiO4)". Wiki Olivine

Chrysolite is either one of two kinds of crystals either Olivine or Chrysoberyl. Chrysolite is actually the crystal Peridot. It has polymorphous qualities, is mainly magnesium and oxygen bonded. Not a mineralist, but I am sure Emily has found an interest in gemology. Peridot is the birthstone of August babies so I think maybe Emily has some interest in showing the stones of summer. Nonetheless Emily is creating a magic world of crystals here. And this is before Crystals were used as healing stones, although they may have been for centuries. Did Emily know this? Emily???

"Like thee to dance - like thee to sing -
People opon that mystic green -
I ask, each new May morn.
I wait thy far - fantastic bells -
Announcing me in other dells -
Unto the different dawn!"

Emily's vivid imagination is in full regalia in this poem. Emily's spirit is clearly viewed from the fantasy world she creates. The "mystic green" really emphasizing her magic kingdom to come and also alludes the peridot stone which has quite an interesting history being related to comets, Greek mythology, and from New Zealand where Lord of The Rings was filmed. It is pure magic that Emily has conjured in this poem. It was intentional reprieve for her state of mind in the last poem was vexing with those codger Robins betraying her. So in this poem Emily is imagining a world of comfort and fantasy to hide from the everyday world which may have been too "real" for her. Emily I believe, inhabits these her fantasy world, with their own speech and ways of seeing into these "otherworldlies". Amazing. Poor Emily having to create these fantasy worlds because hers was not with "bells" and "dells" and much revellery as would be a marriage feast. Did she think of herself like a nun or too spiritually "pure" for any brutish man with their cunning and "fly away" approach to her? Emily must have kept her sanity in the anti-feminist era by creating a rich fantasy life. Good for her!

jj

Chiccoreal's Channel of Today's Poem brought to you by Dow Jones Chemical Peridots

Peridot Gazing

Seeing worlds
Green and New
Shining and Gleaming
Teaming with Happiness
and Good Times
Emily You are Right there Now
Looking Down from Your cloud
High above the Ne'er Heavens
As you drink from the Peridot
Goblet of Immortality
You find yourself
Caught in the Frivolity
Forever and Ever
This is my wish for you
Dear Emily!

jj