Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Secular or Eclectic Christian : Protestant 19th Century	About Emily Dickinson Timeline (1830 - 1886)
<<Previous Poem | View All Poems by Emily Dickinson | Next Poem >>
Original Language English	[324] Some keep the Sabbath going to the Church ­
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Sound           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 >>	Some keep the Sabbath going to the Church — I keep it, staying at Home — With a Bobolink for a Chorister — And an Orchard, for a Dome — Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice — I just wear my Wings — And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church, Our little Sexton — sings. God preaches, a noted Clergyman — And the sermon is never long, So instead of getting to Heaven, at last — I'm going, all along.   1860   -- from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, Edited by Thomas H. Johnson Amazon.com
<<Previous Poem | View More Poems by Emily Dickinson | Next Poem >>

Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

I like the way Emily Dickinson talks about true worship being at home -- or within oneself -- rather than requiring church. She celebrates a worship that is simple, essential, direct.

For her, trees form the roof of her church.

It is in her solitary moments and her private communions with nearby nature that Dickinson hears her sermons. She finds within this interior world that God preaches to her directly -- "a noted Clergyman" indeed!

I especially love the closing lines:

So instead of getting to Heaven, at last —
I'm going, all along.

The journey to heaven has become a part of her, it fills her entire world. It is not relegeted to the future, but a continuous unfolding in the present.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.