Poem~A~Day~~~Emily Dickinson~~~"Heart! We will forget him!"#47/1175

Heart! We will forget him! by Emily Dickinson


Heart! We will forget him!
You and I — tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave —
I will forget the light!

When you have done, pray tell me
That I may straight begin!
Haste! lest while you're lagging
I remember him!

In this heart-felt and directly emotional poem by Emily Dickinson pleas not the amount of exclamation marks!

When Emily refers to "Heart" it is a person personified. In this way Emily has split from her heart seeing it as a separate entity, something to be cajoled, delegated and dispatched.

Like an old friend Emily tells her heart "We will forget him". Like a little colonel Emily is determined to have her heart become the first line of defence when it comes to forgetting "him" but her heart sometimes "lagged" behind and springs to mind feelings and images of him.

In other words, to Emily, her heart brings forth feelings and thoughts that she can not control but she tries to control at all costs "that I may straight begin". Her prime directive of Emily's is to totally "forget him" rather than "remember him". Yet her heart betrays her! So like the heart full of heart-memories!

The paradox here; between "forget him" and "remember him", the beginning she tries to forget him, in the end the love of heart makes her remember him. Emily obviously loved this "him" very much. One can only speculate as to the state of Emily's heart here or whom, exactly, is this special "him". I am considering that it is the beau that did die before Emily tied the knot.

Or it could have been her later day love, the one who was also a writer who she so valiantly tried to win and did impress. Due to Miss Emily's tenacity, she perhaps went "overboard" in her need to attach to this man and it was to her detriment since most men did not appreciate forward women during Victorian times, being forward considered a "faux pas". Perhaps only Virginia Wolfe could just begin to be the whole woman Emily was yearning to become. The road to evolution being paved with many prior suffragettes!

Then again and however, please prove me right or prove me wrong Emily is deceased and cannot speak for herself except in her poetry. The joy is in the reading and the direct experience of words on lips. As much speculating is just that, the joy of discovering something new and learning something new, whether or not it is historically accurate or not, for now and as yet. Time will come when we have all the pieces put together and in place to discover the complete nature of Miss Emily Dickinson who will indeed and does stand the test of time and does stand up amongst the greatests of authentic transcendentalist American poets.

Chiccoreal's Modernist Approach and Take On The Heart That "Him" Stole
or "Emily; Whom or What's Your Heart's Desire?"

You down low you made me grovel in the earthen gravel
and growl and howl at the moon for hours!
you made me stand up and scream
liberty!
freedom
frats and soriety sistas
No faint heart do not lie
do not remember him that made me die
Remembering now
the promises like butter
melted and flowing freely
close the door
there's no more killing floors!
no more blood to mop up
no more bleedin' hearts to mend
that cruel game is up
now for the return volley
from Cupid's bent arrow
as I return full fury
hell hath anone either
Emily you deserve so much better!
What's your heart's desire?

jj