Emily Dickinson’s Winter

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons –
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes –
Emily Dickinson

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Emily Dickinson’s poetry was greatly inspired by science, nature, and the passing of the seasons. L. Edwin Folsom explains in “The Souls That Snow”, that Dickinson wrote about 500 poems about the seasons.  They were divided into about 400 poems about summer and spring, and about 100 about winter and autumn.  Folsom suggests “winter for Dickinson is the season that forces reality”, and that winter seemed linked to death and eternity.  This could be why these months didn’t receive much attention from her. Yet the poems she did write about winter convey a deep sense of reflection and contemplation.

The following poem, “There’s a Certain Slant of Light” is one where Dickinson highlights the connection between winter and death.

“There’s a certain Slant of Light” by Emily Dickinson

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons –
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes –

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us –
We can find no scar,
But internal difference –
Where the Meanings, are –

None may teach it – Any –
'Tis the Seal Despair –
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air –

When it comes, the Landscape listens –
Shadows – hold their breath –
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death –

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Dickinson, who lived in Amherst, Massachusetts, where the cold and snow of winter is a reality for at least 6 months out of the year, did accept winter as part of her identity.  In the following, slightly more upbeat poem, she states that she sees “New Englandly” and that winter is part of that vision

“The Robin’s my Criterion for Tune” by Emily Dickinson

The Robin's my Criterion for Tune—
Because I grow—where Robins do—
But, were I Cuckoo born—
I'd swear by him—
The ode familiar—rules the Noon—
The Buttercup's, my Whim for Bloom—
Because, we're Orchard sprung—
But, were I Britain born,
I'd Daisies spurn—
None but the Nut—October fit—
Because, through dropping it,
The Seasons flit—I'm taught—
Without the Snow's Tableau
Winter, were lie—to me—
Because I see—New Englandly—
The Queen, discerns like me—
Provincially—

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To continue on this positive association of winter, Dickinson suggests that winter is good for transitions and supportive of individual growth.

Winter under cultivation
Is as arable as Spring

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But even with these positive affiliations to winter, Dickinson still wants the reader to know so prefers the spring and summer.

“Winter is good — his Hoar Delights” by Emily Dickinson

Winter is good — his Hoar Delights
Italic flavor yield
To Intellects inebriate
With Summer, or the World —
 
Generic as a Quarry
And hearty — as a Rose —
Invited with Asperity
But welcome when he goes.

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So it seems that Dickinson may have had a mixed relationship with the colder months. Whereas the spring and summer may have inspired an abundance of poetic expression, the hibernation of winter provided time for introspection and digestion of the past year’s events.  However, this time of contemplation should only last so long before it is time to welcome spring again.

I am fairly new to the study of Dickinson’s work but find her verse and imagery fascinating.  There is such a range from “Because I could not stop for Death” to “A Bird came down the Walk”, I can easily see why she has earned her place as one of the great American poets.

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Resources:

• Folsom, L. Edwin. Notes from ‘The Souls That Snow’ Retrieved from White Heat, The Emily Dickinson Blog, Dartmouth
• Dickinson Poems retrieved from:
  • White Heat, December 24-31, 1862: Poems on Winter
  • Rebecca Foust; Emily Dickinson Winter Poems

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