~~~POEM~a~DAY~~~Emily Dickinson~~~It did not surprise me — by Emily Dickinson 39/1775

EASTERN SCREECH OWL


It did not surprise me — by Emily Dickinson


It did not surprise me —
So I said — or thought —
She will stir her pinions
And the nest forgot,

Traverse broader forests —
Build in gayer boughs,
Breathe in Ear more modern
God's old fashioned vows —

This was but a Birdling —
What and if it be
One within my bosom
Had departed me?

This was but a story —
What and if indeed
There were just such coffin
In the heart instead?

by Emily Dickinson

Friends of Emily! Emily's unique way of speaking in her poetic voice is quite established here. The return of "Emily-esque" symbolic words and themes plays heavily in this poem "It did not surprise me".

"She will stir her pinions
And her nest forgot"

Again the word "pinions" is a pivotal (pardon the pun) word for Emily. As we know, a pinion is not an often used word today. A pinion is a spoke in a wheel. Here the pinion is representative of stirring or movement and/or change. "Stir her pinions" similar to "revving her engine", or "spinning her wheels" itching for a change.

"She will stir her pinions" could also be a pun on the word "opinion". She will state her opinions and forget her home. As ever there is change in life, with humans and the birds of which she alludes to, but not whom I think this poem is entirely about. I believe Emily is again referring to herself or her best friend Sue Gilbert.

Traverse broader forests —
Build in gayer boughs,

The above two lines are easy enough to understand, that the young "birdling" is actually more than just a bird. This poem is a double-entendre or has a double meaning. So the young bird is looking for "broader forests" and "gayer boughs" and so is Emily's best friend, Sue Gilbert. Maybe Emily is speaking about herself, although I doubt this. Since Emily's nature, has proven time and time again in prior poems. Emily is often portrayed as being a home-body.

Emily being a person who perfers to be settled in a secure and unchanging domestic situation. This is proven in the fact that this is what Emily did, she did not embark upon the "greener" pastures or the far away shore.

And I am fairly certain that the person Emily is secretly referring in coded imagery is her best friend, Sue Gilbert. Emily does appear to feel somewhat betrayed by Sue Gilbert's brazen and wreckless abandonment of her feelings by leaving Emily. And Emily feels this in her heart, re: "bosom". We are conjecturing here only, no direct reference has been found to assume this assertion.

Breathe in Ear more modern
God's old fashioned vows —

Perhaps a bit of moralizing here; "God's old fashioned vows" these promises that Emily thought were "cut in stone" were actually impossible to attain. Emily does seem to be quite insistent that "modern" is not the same as "old fashioned". That "old fashioned" is better and requires a good standing with the vows and promises in the moral code of the Bible made this way by and of the Creator. There is something here which is upsetting Emily's good old fashioned moral values and virtues. And I believe this person is Sue Gilbert!

Did Sue Gilbert want something more "modern". It is a fact that Sue Gilbert married Emily's brother and built a "modern" for the Victorian age, a modern home upon the Dickinson estate lands; next door to be precise.

This was but a Birdling —
What and if it be
One within my bosom
Had departed me?

Emily appears to work through some serious emotions in her poems. Perhaps for emotional release or perhaps as a way she communicates with the person for whom many of her poems are written.

In this way Emily is trying to convince Sue Gilbert of her errant ways, and to come back to Emily's way of thinking. This should, in fact, could happen ifSue Gilbert figure out exactly what Emily means to say in her poems. I am not sure if these more "personal" poems were never to be released for the general public viewing. No matter as it is, at this late date, much too late now! Nonetheless, Emily is clearly trying to use a deceptive cover-up to hide her true emotions behind her natural imagery, in this poem, a birdling which is a symbol for Sue Gilbert.

Emily seems heart-broken by the fact that this birdling (Sue Gilbert) will leave by either flying away, and/or dying. Both seem to be the one and the same for Emily in this poem.

Once someone found their way into Emily's heart or "bosom" she has a very difficult time to let go and has stated her resentment for them to have "departed me". Interesting that Emily should leave out the grammatic predicate "from", this could be poetic license however.

This was but a story —
What and if indeed
There were just such coffin
In the heart instead?

Emily in the last stanza is being incredibly maudlin, and wholly remorseful. Her alluding to her heart being a "coffin" is somewhat "Edgar Allan Poe"-like, bordering on the macabre. Did Emily seem to be alluding to the fact of the many deaths that did happen to her did take away her heart? That death made her heart feel "entombed" or "dead" like the imagery of the coffin and Emily could not bear to part for a moment with her best friend. This will have to be a dissertation for the scholars of Emily Dickinson! It would "not surprise me" in the least bit either!

jj

Chiccoreal's Conjectures Into Emily Dickinson's "It did not surprise me"

Little birdling in the tree
spinning its wheels
so and so
waiting to free
pinion free
free of opinions too
Birdling Birdling
in the sky
Little Birdlings
just have to fly!
from the constraits
from the burdens
from the wicked heart of the matter
what's the matter?
Miss Emily?
Must you hold everything
you love so close to your bosom
as to never let go
til grave doth come?
Lighten up!

jj