Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

EMILY DICKINSON, by RICHARD GHORMLEY EBERHART Poet Analysis Poet's Biography

Richard Ghormley Eberhart's poem "Emily Dickinson" offers an intriguing portrait of the famed American poet, capturing not just her persona but also the enigmatic essence of her work. Eberhart, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet, is known for addressing profound philosophical and spiritual questions. This multi-layered tribute appears to dramatize Dickinson's internal tensions between the corporeal and the ethereal, as well as her elusiveness as both a poet and a person.

The first section portrays a "laughing girl" who claims that she must "take a man toward eternity." The lines, "Her flesh was soft and fleet, / Her mouth was like a rose," conjure sensuous imagery that contrasts sharply with Dickinson's own reputed reclusiveness and her penchant for exploring mortality and spirituality. Eberhart paints a vivid picture of an ethereal woman, where "a spiritual drift / Played about her flowing clothes." This could be seen as his way of commenting on the often intangible and evanescent quality of Dickinson's own poetry, which hovers between the physical world and the metaphysical.

The second section of the poem deals with the ineffable nature of capturing the essence of a person or concept. Just when he believes he has "held her in his clutch," she "vanished in the air." This is an interesting reflection on Dickinson's own legacy. Despite the rigorous academic and popular analyses of her life and work, Dickinson remains a mysterious figure. In the lines, "She is gone with the wind / And he is gone with the weather," Eberhart encapsulates this evanescence, stressing the transient nature of human existence contrasted against the permanence of art and spirituality.

While the subject and themes are compelling, the structure and rhyme scheme of the poem also contribute to its impact. It doesn't strictly adhere to a set rhyme scheme or metrical pattern, echoing the elusive and unpredictable nature of its subject. This complements the thematic elements Eberhart is dealing with: the challenge of capturing something-or someone-as paradoxical and multi-faceted as Emily Dickinson.

Finally, the poem can be read as a commentary on the existential questions that form the basis of much of Dickinson's own poetry. In the lines, "Pretend to the flesh, / But the flesh will fall away. / In timeless uselessness / Love can have a stay," Eberhart seems to grapple with the very issues of mortality and eternal love that Dickinson herself so often explored. The "timeless uselessness" could be an ironic nod to the eternal questions that both poets seek to explore but can never definitively answer.

Overall, Eberhart's "Emily Dickinson" serves as a fascinating dialogue with Dickinson's work, encapsulating the elusive nature of both her poetry and her persona, all while raising universal questions about existence, love, and the spiritual realm.

Poem Snippet:

She departed with the years

And rode upon her destiny

While he was retained much

In the hold of mystery.