John Romano Dana Luciano 14 February 2014 Title In Emily Dickinson's poem F 24!

the speaker consi"ers i"eas no less ambitious an" all#encompassin$ than Li%e! human nature! meanin$! eternity! an" so on& ' kin" o% con%lict or binary emer$es %rom the poem's temporal conte(t o% eternity! that bet)een human en"ea*or! the %ul%illment o% a '+oal!' 'Li%e's lo) ,enture!' an" the impossibility all this acti*ity must con%ront& This in%inite ran$e o% time %unctions as the "ri*in$ %orce behin" this con%lict! that )hich perpetuates the state o% a%%airs- .Eternity enable the en"ea*orin$ / '$ain0 112#203& To un"erstan" this poem more thorou$hly! one coul" rea" it throu$h a lens o% speci%icity an" e(empli%ication4 to posit Li%e's lo) ,enture as the enterprise o% )ritin$ poetry an" correspon"in$ly! as the particular $oal o% the speaker un"ertakes& In this )ay! then! the poem %unctions as a per%ormance o% )hat it attempts to say by *irtue o% its *ery poetic %orm& 5ut this per%ormance! ho)e*er! "oes not con%irm the main ar$ument o% the poem as it mi$ht on %irst $lance& Initially! one may see this complete" poem itsel% as a testament to the po)er o% Eternity to ur$e the poet to continue a seemin$ly hopeless task& Rather! the poem can only take place in the conte(t o% its o)n 'lo) ,enture' an" conse6uently rea%%irms its %initu"e instea"& The speaker su$$ests that the art o% )ritin$ poetry inherently pro*es itsel% to be insu%%icient in"epen"ently an" that its e(istence must nourish itsel% on the i"ea o% eternity& In sum! the speaker implicitly "e*alues her o)n art an" the poem commits *iolence upon itsel% %rom )ithin& The poem "eals out t)o o% its ma7or i"eas in its %irst %our lines- that there e(ists a temporal or spatial center at )hich point e*ery li%e meets an" that e*ery person naturally has a personal $oal& The rest o% the poem e(plores an" "epen"s on these i"eas )ithout $i*in$

them any %urther e(planation or clari%ication& That the poem be$ins )ith these %our lines has a key %unction! as it allo)s %or the rest o% the poem to say )hat it "oes an" o%%ers the poem a *ery linear train o% thou$ht& 8ith this in min" one coul" then say that three aspects o% the poem! %orm! content! an" per%ormance! mimic each other other an" )ork in tan"em& The %orm pushes ahea" an" opens up the space in )hich the content can %urther "e*elop itsel% in each %ollo)in$ stan9a! an" %rom these t)o parts emer$es the per%ormance o% the poem that may either con%irm or "eny its central theme& In the last stan9a the poem neatly circles back to its be$innin$! "emonstratin$ the )ay in )hich the 'en"ea*or' o% )ritin$ poetry is enable" a$ain& The %irst stan9a raises 6uestions that un"eniably remain unans)ere"- )hat is the %orce behin" the con*er$in$ o% 'Each Li%e:' 8hat is the purpose o% con*er$in$ to a center: It )oul" seem that on the scale o% eternity! each li%e )oul" actually "o the opposite! that is! become %urther an" %urther apart& ;oreo*er! instea" o% the kin" o% center the poem a"*ances! )here harmony an" unison someho) e(ist! eternity )oul" entropically call %or increasin$ly less or$ani9ation! an" thus the least possible chance o% unity& <ut o% this! one coul" ar$ue that the speaker implicitly 1or e*en e(plicitly3 sets up a hierarchy that subor"inates %initu"e to in%initu"e& In other )or"s! the speaker re$ar"s the time o% li%e an" o% human *enture as "e%icient an" ina"e6uate to actuali9e a $oal compare" )ith the time o% eternity& =et in spite o% this claim it remains sel%#e*i"ent that any $oal 1in our case! )ritin$ poetry3 necessarily e(ists an" can only be reali9e" )ithin the limite" time o% a li%e on earth& 8hat the poem tries to say an" "o ine*itably %ails an" simply rea%%irms the impossibility o% reachin$ outsi"e itsel% to)ar"s a hi$her realm& The poem can only li*e on in a continual "i%%erin$ an" "e%errin$ process bet)een %inite realms4 e*en thou$h )e ha*e this poem an" can rea" it! this is entirely a historically contin$ent %act an" is not necessary in any )ay& >istory is not in%inite an" )ill ha*e an en"& <ne is le%t )ith the 6uestion! )hy an" ho) "oes %initu"e make li%e a lo) *enture:

Re$ar"in$ a spatial consi"eration! there is another hierarchy bet)een t)o competin$ realms- the lo) place o% earth )here humans ")ell an" their *entures take place! an" the hea*enly sky! home to the ?aints an" outsi"e o% time or )here time %unctions "i%%erently& @oetry lon$s to 'To reach' a '5rittle >ea*en!' 'To touch' the 'Rainbo)'s Raiment' but the act is 'hopeless&' ?tructurally! poetry )ill al)ays alrea"y %ail to arri*e at this i"eal because it must use lan$ua$e an" systems o% representation that only e(ist in the %inite )orl"4 it cannot use anythin$ else but this& The "i*ine i"eal pro"uces in the poet the "esire to transcen" but at the *ery moment poetry occurs! the "i*ine is un"ermine"& The speaker re%uses to accept an" embrace the limits o% the human con"ition as a )orthy source o% moti*ation to )ork to)ar"s a $oal an" %in" meanin$ )ithin that )ork& The poem is blin" to itsel% in that it sees its completeness are *irtues not as the %ruits o% its status a Li%e's lo) ,enture but because it points to an impossible )orl"& 5ut the *ery meanin$! "i$nity an" raison "'Atre o% the poem can mani%est e(actly %rom the imper%ect nature o% lan$ua$e an" human li%e& <ne can accept that the poem here .perse*ere" to)ar" B surer B %or the Distance0 but it nee"lessly "oes *iolence to itsel% at the moment the speaker "eclares that it is .Cn$aine" B it may be B by a Li%e's lo) ,enture&0