~~~Emily Dickinson~~~Poem-A-Day~~"I keep my pledge" 45/1775

I keep my pledge by Emily Dickinson

I keep my pledge.
I was not called —
Death did not notice me.
I bring my Rose.
I plight again,
By every sainted Bee —
By Daisy called from hillside —
by Bobolink from lane.
Blossom and I —
Her oath, and mine —
Will surely come again.

Emily Dickinson does indeed keep her pledge in "I keep my pledge". Emily is in fact assured of her promise to herself "life and I".

Life is a rose to Emily. As a metaphor the Rose certainly acts in ways that show it's life cycle and Emily feels that her "Blossom" her life is ready when she will "surely come again".

Emily in this poem is disputing the concept of death as a finality. Emily believes that there is more beyond all this life, this "Blossom", such as

By every sainted Bee —
By Daisy called from hillside —
by Bobolink from lane.

Emily is assured life will continue after life, that death is an illusion. Whether or not this is a credo of the Transcendentalists will be determined at a latter time, for now, we exactly Emily's feelings about the topic of life, Emily and death. The oath, is her faith in the world beyond this, and she has pledged her soul to it's reality, even though it is not a world that allows for the expression of all senses, but of hidden senses that may only be pledged by faith of conviction.

The familiar bird, the "bobolink" has inhabited Emily's poems before as a metaphor of all that is life in her surroundings in the Amherst, MA area. The "sainted Bee" symbolically represents to Emily the buzzing sound beyond life's gateway. The "Daisy" a perrential favourite of Emily's shows life's renewal. Emily's specific symbolism is personal and reflects her own personal philosophic beliefs.

Emily does, indeed, believe in an afterlife.

Chiccoreal's Exclusive and Executive Board Room Drawings on the Poems of Miss Emily Dickinson's "I keep My Pledge"

Solemn Oath ~ To Life

To Life
For Life
Always LIfe
None shall get in the way
of this spirit of life
of this spirit of love
of this spirit Eternal
to renew the Blossom'd Rose
to renew the Chickadee's Flight
to renew the Daisy's Chain
All these things that have meant so much
Will continue to be
Forevermore

jj