Personal analysis of poem #1098 (Franklin Edition)
The Leaves like
Women interchange
Exclusive Confidence -
Somewhat of nods
and somewhat
Portentous inference -
The Parties in both cases Enjoining secrecy - Inviolable compact To notoriety.
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Using the definitions found in Emily Dickinson's Lexicon only, we get the the following:
Note: the meaning I choose from several definitions of the same word is in purple. In black is the only definition suggested for the term)
Leaves:
1) Plant appendage; growth from a stem; chlorophyll-producing segment on a branch
2) Page; individual segment of a book
Exclusive Confidence:
Exclusive:
1) Selective; not including; separate
2) Debarring from participation; possessed and enjoyed to the exclusion of others; as, an exclusive privilege
Confidence:
1) Trust; faith; assurance; firmness; steadfastness
2) Secrets; delicate matters; private information; communication disclosed in trust
Nods:
Incline the head with a quick motion (agreement)
Portentous inference:
Portentous: [fig.] secretive; implied; implicit; unspoken
Inference: Conclusion; reasoning; understanding; guess; implication
Parties:
1) Participant; concerned person; one involved
2) Litigant; opposing side in a dispute; participant in a lawsuit.
Enjoining secrecy:
To enjoin: Encourage; inspire; embolden; order; direct; call for; push for
Secrecy: Privacy; confidence; trust
Inviolable compact:
Inviolable: not to be broken; unbreakable
Compact: agreement, contract; pact; accord; understanding
Notoriety: exposure; the state of being discovered
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Translation using my own words
The pages of a book, just like women, exchange
secrets that are reserved to some people only, excluding all other people (who don’t read the pages) / (who are not women = men)
To some degree: agreed on (explicit, as the movement of the head when nodding)
To some other degree: an implicit, unspoken understanding
Both participants: readers of the pages/the books and women
Encouraging/ pushing for privacy
In an agreement/a contract that cannot be broken
So that they never get exposed and discovered
→ This poem is an example of how Dickinson uses Law imagery. Both her father and brother were lawyers, therefore Emily was exposed to Law books, conversations and words from this discipline - and therefore uses multiple Law terms across several poems. Here, terms like compact, inviolable, notoriety and parties all belong to the lexical field of the Law.
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Original Manuscript
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