I had been hungry all the Years My Noon had Come - to dine I trembling drew the Table near And touched the Curious Wine -
’T was this on Tables I had seen When turning, hungry, Home
I looked in Windows, for the Wealth
I could not hope – for Mine I did not know the ample Bread ’T was so unlike the Crumb
The Birds and I ,had often shared
In Nature’s – Dining Room -
The Plenty hurt me - ’t was so new,—
Myself felt ill - and odd As Berry - of a Mountain Bush Transplanted - to a Road -
Nor was I hungry - so I found
That hunger - was a way
Of persons outside Windows The Entering - takes away -
I had been hungry all the years.
My noon had come to dine.
I trembling drew the table near
And touched the curious wine.
Recount/narrative structure
Syntax unusual
2 timeframes – years … noon – why the
change? Sharp focus on this significant
moment. Noon = a time of ending or
beginning – symbolic?
Sense of fate “My noon had come”
The only stanza with true rhyme –
(before the crisis)
Verb tenses: pluperfect and simple past
Transferred epithet (“curious”)
Wine: religious sacrament / luxury /
alcohol – intoxicating?
Connotes age / sophistication
Time / Waiting
Are others with her?
Hungry for what?
Love / Fame / Recognition
for her poetry?
Metaphor of physical
anticipation / nervousness
/ inexperience /
need followed by
disappointment
'Twas this on tables I had seen
When turning hungry home
I looked in windows for the wealth
I could not hope for mine.
Repetition/Alliteration
(t + h + w)
Rhyme breaks down into
half rhyme (home/mine)
Syntax
awkward/ambiguous
in the last 2 lines
Hunger drove her / motivated
her search
Her “home” could not provide
riches such as this – but did it
provide for her needs?
Up until now, had she ignored
these riches?
What changed that she could
“enter”?
I did not know the ample bread.
'Twas so unlike the crumb
The birds and I had often shared
In nature's dining-room.
“ample bread” – pairing of
plosives p and b
“often shared” – as was her habit
“shared” implies fellowship /
communion / equality …
Leads us to consider the
connotations of the phrase
‘communion with nature’
Plenty can be too much
Simplicity and sufficiency of
Nature?
OR
The lean times with nature are
preferable to the plenty of the
arrogant?
Spiritual hunger? The Church
does not meet her deep need?
The plenty hurt me, 'twas so new.
Myself felt ill and odd,
As berry of a mountain bush
Transplanted to the road.
Breaking of smooth rhythm
Caesura plus “Myself felt ill and
odd” – followed by a ‘rushed’ two
final lines
Simile – (a wild plant uprooted
and moved to a road) –the
opposite to the privacy / wildness
of the mountain
Alliteration (berry/bush)
Echoed in the plosive p
(plenty / transplanted)
She felt out of place – out of her
milieu (natural environment)
Disappointment in meeting the
‘hunger’. It is not satisfying or
fulfilling
If someone else puts ED in the
public eye – she will suffer!
Perhaps – if her poems are
published – her intellectual
integrity / freedom will also
suffer
Nor was I hungry, so I found
That hunger was a way
Of persons outside windows
The entering takes away.
Further change of rhyme
into an identical or
“perfect” rhyme
(a way / away) – which
sounds forced or strange
to my C21st ears!
Strange / impersonal
word choice (“of
persons”)
Syntax awkward
Meeting the need removes the
“hunger” (desire) Does it destroy
the hunger for ever?
Did the publication of two poems
without her permission strengthen
her resolve to never publish again?
Is this poem also/instead
expressing a sense of loss … e.g. of
spiritual identity / romantic love?
Dickinson examines the choice …
of keeping her poems private,
rather than of publishing … anD
therefore exposing herself to
uninformed criticism.
One can be
surrounded by
one world and
choose to belong
to another
One can commit to a specific domain
of activity in order to have a sense of
belonging
If one discovers a talent or a passion
in life, one may find this sufficient to
give one a sense of fulfilment and
belonging.
Expecting to find / seeking a sense of belonging in
society may not lead to self-fulfilment or
satisfaction
Society may not always meet one’s needs for
belonging
Just ONE of the responses on the Internet …
She is talking about spiritual hunger. The
ample bread, the curious wine are Christ
metaphors. Once she was in the natural world,
longing for spiritual fulfilment.
When she attains it, everything is
different for her, and it is obviously
overwhelming. And her perspective
changes.
Kerry from United States
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/emilydickinson/10531/comments
Explore this poem yourself
…. with the help of this university site
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/
hungry.html