Come slowly - Eden!
Lips unused to Thee -
Bashful - sip thy Jessamines -
As the fainting Bee -
Reaching late his flower, Round her chamber hums - Counts his nectars - Enters - and is lost in Balms.
******
Personal Analysis
This is one of the most erotic poems I have read yet.
Come slowly - Eden!
I can't help but read this poem at a longing, slow pace - pausing when Dickinson instructs us to. From the very first sentence, this is how she sets the tone (Come slowly).
The reader needs to pause and breathe after the first two words, separated from their personified ecstatic concept of Paradise (Eden) with a dash (-).
Slowly and Eden both have open sounded vowels and their first syllables are stressed, adding to the dragging, stretching of the line and through it its feeling of slow pace (slowly, Eden...)
Lips unused to Thee -
It could be the first time these lips feel Eden/Paradise (unused). To me, whenever Dickinson uses the pronoun "Thee", it adds a deliberate biblical, worshipping image of the person to whom the narrator is talking, almost praying.
Bashful - sip thy Jessamines -
The ED Lexicon gives several definitions of bashful. I understand it with the first one:
Shy; sheepish; [fig.] dainty; sensitive; delicate; tender.
Both a shy person and the figurative meaning of the word work perfectly for me here (sensitive, delicate and tender).
This person is being compared to the Bee on the next line, slowly and timidly sipping the overpowering, God-like nectar of the heavenly Jessamines ("Jessamines" is the archaic word for "Jasmine" (from the French "Jasmin")). The Bee often has a sexual connotation in ED's poetry, craving, sipping on flowers and getting intoxicated on sweet, desirable nectars. the emphasis on the slow pace is also in the verb "to sip" as opposed to "to drink": there is a feeling of tasting slowly and postponing pleasure in that choice of verb.
As the fainting Bee -
The Bee is under so much crave and unusual pleasures it is described as "fainting". The Lexicon provides adjectives such as weak, helpless, vulnerable (my favorite) for "fainting".
Reaching late his flower,
Another image of the Bee taking his time, enjoying the moment, lies in "reaching late" the flower he was looking for.
Round her chamber hums -
Counts his nectars -
He once again goes slowly and doesn't dive right in despite his weak, vulnerable state. He "hums -" around the flower's chamber, taking the time to "count his nectars -". The Lexicon gives two definitions here for "to hum":
Buzz; make sound of a bee.
Blend sounds in a low, murmuring noise.
Enters - and is lost in Balms.
The Bee finally "enters" the chamber and gets "lost" in its fragrant, intoxicating "Balms" that he craves and desires so much. The ED Lexicon offers several definitions for Balms here. I highlighted the ones that make sense to me for this poem:
Relief; comfort (see Jeremiah 8:22).
Pollen; [fig.] fragrance; bouquet; floral aroma; scent of flower pollen.
Medicine; remedy; soothing cream; pain-relieving ointment.
Emollient; perfume; essence; sweet-smelling unguent; oil used to prepare the dead for burial (see Genesis 37:25).
Nectar; nourishing liquid; revitalizing fluid.
This whole imagery is so deeply feminine, sensual and sexual to me, despite the fact that the Bee is given a "he" pronoun (I could write pages about that and explain why I do not see the Bee as masculine...). To me Dickinson's poetry is so feminine (although this term can be discussed). This poem talks about emotional and physical Paradise, bliss, fulfillment, feminine pleasure, crave and thirst for a loved one.
This is how I understand and feel the poem, but other readers may receive it differently (and that is the magic behind Dickinson's art!).
Source: AppleTV Show Dickinson
Comments