"Disenchantment LII," by Emily Dickinson (from "Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson, p. 28). "Disenchantment" is the title assigned to the poem by editors. Dickinson did not entitle her works. The word means the state of being free from a false belief. The reader never knows specifically what the speaker--probably a woman-- has become disenchanted about. But whatever the experience--referred to as "it" in the first line--it caused her to do some serious self-assessment. It dropped so low in my regard I heard it hit the ground And go to pieces on the stones At bottom of my mind; Yet blamed the fate that fractured, less Than I reviled myself For entertaining plated wares [dishes] Upon my silver shelf. Comment: At the center of the poem is a simile: This experience and its end were LIKE what happens when a dish falls off the shelf and breaks. She "blamed" Fate a bit for what happened but "reviled" herself for putting herself in a position to be humiliated and emotionally crushed: for accepting someone as her equal (probably a man) who was not. Such experiences are timeless and universal and always painful.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 15:38:56 +0000
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