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[322] There came a Day at Summerıs full by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886) Timeline Original Language English Secular or Eclectic Christian : Protestant 19th Century There came a Day at Summer's full, Entirely for me — I thought that such were for the Saints, Where Resurrections — be — The Sun, as common, went abroad, The flowers, accustomed, blew, As if no soul the solstice passed That maketh all things new — The time was scarce profaned, by speech — The symbol of a word Was needless, as at Sacrament, The Wardrobe — of our Lord — Each was to each The Sealed Church, Permitted to commune this — time — Lest we too awkward show At Supper of the Lamb. The Hours slid fast — as Hours will, Clutched tight, by greedy hands — So faces on two Decks, look back, Bound to opposing lands — And so when all the time had leaked, Without external sound Each bound the Other's Crucifix — We gave no other Bond — Sufficient troth, that we shall rise — Deposed — at length, the Grave — To that new Marriage, Justified — through Calvaries of Love —   1861   -- from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, Edited by Thomas H. Johnson Amazon.com	Themes   Death   Garden   Lotus   Lover and Beloved   Marriage Recommended Books American Triptych: Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, and Adrienne Rich, by Wendy Martin Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson, Edited by Mabel Loomis Todd / Edited by Thomas Wentworth Higginson The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, Edited by Thomas H. Johnson Dickinson: Poems: Everyman's Pocket Library, by Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson and the Art of Belief: (Library of Religious Biography), by Roger Lundin More >>
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

So, what do you think she means by a "Day at Summer's full, / Entirely for me --" that she thought was only for "Saints, / Where Resurrections -- be --"? Can we doubt that she is writing of her own personal mystical experience?

I especially like the third stanza. This eternal moment she has discovered is "scarce profaned, by speech -- / The symbol of a word / Was needless..." Emily Dickinson is experiencing complete and profound silence, where the mind stops trying to chop its awareness of reality into manageable conceptual pieces. Instead, the mind at rest, the blissful, unedited awareness of reality floods in. We discover that reality does not need to be clothed with the chatter or conceptualization of the mind, just as the Lord needs no "Wardrobe" "at Sacrament".

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2009 by Ivan M. Granger.
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