The spirituality of Emily Dickinson is very complex. This is partly due to the little that is known about her personal life, but also due to her somewhat conflicting personae. The life and poetry of Dickinson bring forth the question of what defines spirituality, and challenges the idea of the time that spirituality was a matter of being Christian, or not. Using New Criticism, and taking into account what is known about her life, and giving context to her verse, we can paint a picture of her complex, and for the time, unconventional thoughts and feelings on spirituality.
Dickinson came from a community of Calvinists and Protestants, but didn’t seem to hold with their beliefs. “Though she reflects her community’s Protestant and Calvinistic frames of reference, religious terminology in her poetry does not indicate that she held orthodox religious beliefs”(McIntosh 3045). We can gather, from her letters, that she was not a fan of churchgoing. One could assume that this was because of her reclusive nature, except that she explains otherwise in a letter. According to the introduction in our text, “Of her family’s habits of traditional prayer and churchgoing, she wrote, ‘[They] are religious—except me—and address an Eclipse, every morning—whom they call Father’”(Mcintosh 3042). The text goes on to elaborate on how she felt about the afterlife, in saying, “Her letters indicate that she found life exhilarating and sufficient, if only it would last, and that for her, heaven was embodied in familiar surroundings, in nature, in love, and in the power of thought”(McIntosh 3042). This form of thought seemed to have more in common with the spirituality of the Native American peoples that it did with the popular thoughts of the Calvinists and Protestants of her time. And while her letters speak of these things, some of her verse can be contradictory. “I reason, Earth is short—/ And Anguish—absolute—/ And many hurt, / But, what of that?”(Dickinson 3053). This verse seems to speak of time on Earth as a short and painful one, seeming to contradict her idea that life is sufficient and exhilarating. However, the last line seems to say “but, who cares?” This could be an embracing of life, in its ups and its downs.
An instance of her taking joy and spirituality from everyday life comes in this verse: “There came a Day at Summer’s full, / Entirely for me—/ I thought that such were for the Saints, / Where Resurrections—be—.”(Dickinson 3055). This verse speaks of the heavenly bliss of a normal summer day alone. It compares it to what saints are supposed to experience during the rapture. This lends spirituality to the nature and joy of a day spent to one’s self.
One of her poems speaks of her dislike of going to church, but her still being interested in keeping the Sabbath holy. “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church—/ I keep it, staying at Home—/ With a Bobolink for a Chorister—/ And an Orchard for a Dome—” (Dickinson 3056). This expresses the idea that, while some people need to go to church to observe the Sabbath, she is perfectly happy with observing it from home. Rather than being under the roof of a church, she sits among her family orchards with birds as her choir. This is more unconventional thought, and most churches today, feel that you need to regularly go to Church in order to be in touch with God. Dickinson seems to feel that the churches, and even the actions in the churches, are unnecessary.
Dickinson also puts her belief in a higher power into writing, and expresses the idea that God doesn’t interfere in the day to day life of humans. “I know that he exists. / Somewhere—in Silence—/ He has hid his rare life/ From our gross eyes.”(Dickinson 3057). There is a definitive declaration of the existence of God in the first line. The idea that he is somewhere “in silence” suggests the idea that God does not directly interact with people on a day to day basis. She then goes on to imply that this is because the human race is not fit for seeing him in making reference to “our gross eyes.”
In one of her more popular verses, she comments on immortality, the eventuality of death, and the afterlife. “Because I could not stop for Death—/ He kindly stopped for me—/ The Carriage held but just Ourselves—/ And Immortality.”(Dickinson 3071). Here, she personifies Death, lending spirituality to it, and making reference to dying as a journey. She speaks of Immortality at the end, thus implying an afterlife.
One poem is laden with her thoughts on God. “‘Heavenly Father’— take to thee/ The supreme iniquity/ Fashioned by thy candid Hand/ In a moment contraband—/ Though to trust us— seem to us/ More respectful— ‘We are dust’—/ We apologize to thee/ For thine own Duplicity—” (Dickinson 3079). This verse admonishes God for being duplicitous in making people of a wicked nature, and then holding them accountable for it. She makes an apology for it, but it has a very ironic tone. This speaks of her problems with orthodox thinking about religion. The introduction text says that “her letters suggest that she refused to profess a sense of sin; such a refusal requires an astonishing degree of originality and courage” (McIntosh 3043). This is very true. She lives in a time where such ideas would not be well accepted at all. However, the previous poem backs up the idea that humans are not responsible for their sin, and that God, in his duplicity, is.
In her poem “The Bible is an antique volume—,” she speaks of her feelings on The Bible. She seems to think that it is an outdated book, as shown in her referring to it as antique. She also refers to it as being written by “faded men” (Dickinson 3079). That phrase evokes the idea of the authors of The Bible being gone, and irrelevant to modern man. The last two lines of the poem say “Orpheus’ Sermon captivated—/ It did not condemn—” (Dickinson 3079). Orpheus was an important figure in Greek religion. He was said to be a priest of Dionysus, the god of wine, agriculture, and theatre. He was also a musician. This verse hints at the nature of the bible. Orpheus used music to captivate his audience, but The Bible is very didactic, and often leaves readers, and one can assume, Dickinson among them, feeling alienate and rebuked.
So, through her poetry and her letters, we can see that Emily Dickinson was a very complex, unorthodox person. However, she still held a great deal of spirituality. She was very vocal about her beliefs in her poetry and letters, no matter how far it set her apart from her peers. Looking back from our perspective, this is very admirable, though it probably wasn’t seen as such during her time.