Impressed by Emily Dickinson’s erudite and complex manner of writing, T. W. Higginson suggested his scholar leave her father’s home to reach out and interact with others; her ruminations seemed to him to be worthy of great discussion. Because Dickinson shot out astounding “thoughts of such a quality” in her letters and poems, Higginson could not “understand how [she could] live so alone” (Johnson 461). However, despite her insight, she felt all too unfit to leave her home and speak openly to anyone at all.
Dickinson displays the catastrophic effects of both her independence and insecurity in the poem, “As if some little Arctic flower” (#177). She embodies herself as this flower, communicating her inability to relate to and interact with others in both social and religious contexts. In the poem, a flower moves from a cold environment down to a fascinatingly warm and vibrant landscape. It is in awe of the environment, relating the southern landscape “To Eden” due to its perfect appearance. But, by “inference therefrom,” we can assume that the flower’s biology makes it impossible to survive in a climate for which it is not suited (#177).
The discrepancies in something so permanent as biology show Dickinson’s tendency to catastrophize her fears in communicating with people from whom she feels so different. She “[does] not cross [her] Father’s ground to any House or town” because she is absolutely terrified of socialization (Johnson 460). It is simple to associate the Arctic flower with Emily Dickinson, herself, and her attempts to interact with others, but it can also be argued that this poem is less secular than it seems at first glance.
The flower wanders “To Eden” (#177), a beautiful paradise so foreign to its typical environment. If we are to interpret this “Eden” more literally than before, this poem becomes an interesting portrayal of Dickinson’s conflicts with her spirituality. The “strange, bright crowds of flowers” (#177) appear as if they are rejoicing in a way that does not make sense to the Arctic flower. It is fascinated by the summer flowers, almost envious of their ability to thrive so well, but it is simply unable to bask in the “firmaments of sun” (#177).
In this interpretation, the summer flowers are all churchgoers thriving with their foundation of organized religion. Dickinson, however interested she may be, is “puzzled” by their ability to enjoy something for which she believes she is obviously unfit. The idea that she feels so far removed from these people suggests that she knows she has no chance of joining—and no chance of understanding—whatever joy can come from religion.
Though Dickinson was raised in a religious family, she approaches the idea of their god with hesitation, believing him to be “an Eclipse… hom they call their ‘Father'” (Johnson 404). Statements like these lead us to believe that Dickinson is an atheist, opposed entirely to the idea of a god. And yet she continues to write poems such as “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church” (#236), in which she holds on to some, albeit few, spiritual beliefs. By staying at home and enjoying the nature around her, she feels that “God preaches, a noted Clergyman” (#236), and she experiences Him without attending church. Perhaps, then, she is not against God, but rather organized religion itself.
Her inability to survive in the “continents of summer” (or church), despite her envy of the summer flowers’ (or the congregation’s) interesting practice and environment shows the conflict she faces in terms of her spirituality. Heaven is desirable but unfathomable. Eden is enticing but uninviting. The Garden of Eden makes another appearance in “I never felt at Home—Below” (#437), which communicates the same frustrations implicit in poem #177. In it, she expresses that, even if she were to go to the “Handsome skies” of heaven, “[she] shall not feel at home” (#437).
Reiterating the theme of poem #177, Dickinson is resistant to concede to the demands of religion. In heaven, “it’s Sunday – all the time / And Recess – never comes” (#437). She finds religious practice to be a chore from which she wants to “run away” (#437), so she can never imagine immersing herself fully into a community based around religion. Like the Arctic flower in the summer continents, she does not feel she will ever be able to fit in. “Eden’ll be so lonesome” (#437) because she is not as fully committed to religion as everyone else.
The very notion that Dickinson considers her place in heaven, however, reinforces her fascination with God, but the fear of her discomfort there simultaneously voices her conflict with her spirituality and religion, similarly suggested in both “As if some little Arctic flower” and “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church. ” Conflict is apparent in Dickinson’s poetry, not only in her ambivalence toward her spirituality, but also in her home and public life. Though she is certain that she will not find solace in heaven, she “never [feels] at Home – Below” (#437), either.
Even in life, she feels detached from every source of comfort, forcing us to wonder where ‘Home’ really is. “As if some little Arctic flower” makes it seem as if Dickinson can only survive in solitude, which would support her decision in locking herself in her house. It is at her home, however, that another conflict arises. The Beecher sisters’ The American Woman’s Home makes it clear that life at home is actually a very socially constructed environment. The book lists a set of guidelines for men and women to follow in order to maintain a ‘proper household. Even in solitude, Dickinson has certain standards to meet.
Some provide her with wise, matriarchal power, while others trap her in a state of disconnect between her and her surroundings. The Beecher sisters write these standards to coincide with a lot of religious context, too, which only applies more pressure on Dickinson, a woman questioning her faith among a religious family. Because even the home holds some standards she cannot meet in society, this Arctic flower is in a constant state of detachment. Traditional Christian hierarchy dominated Dickinson’s home, and she was obliged to succumb to the expectations presented in The American Woman’s Home.
The woman of a family was expected to pursue a “great mission [of] self-denial” (Beecher 19) and become subservient to those around her. Dickinson proved to foster this sense of humility successfully, serving to the will of others and striving to take up little space in accommodation for men with higher social statuses than her own. Though her actions conceded to the Beecher sisters’ guidelines, her motivation did not conform to their traditional Christian values. She was willing to “come down to elevate others,” as taught, but not as “a true follower of Christ” (Beecher 20).
Dickinson, unable to identify with organized religion, was unable to commit fully her duties in her own home. This again draws our attention back to “As if some little Arctic flower” (#177), which emphasizes the vacillating nature of Dickinson, the flower, and her inability to conform entirely due to the obstacles of a religion with practices that do not make sense to her. The predominantly religious culture around her made her home a social construct, leaving her uncomfortable in her one place of solace.
It is arguable, however, that Dickinson sees conformity in comfort; relating to these summer flowers, she feels, may strip her of her self-apperception. Because she willingly identifies herself as a foreign flower separate from others, she establishes independence from society. Though she is envious of those who find satisfaction in Christianity, she still disagrees with organized religion. The religious are, to her, a part of a nonsensical following that she decides never to join despite her curiosity.
Ultimately, she may pride herself in her almost audacious knowledge and wisdom, accepting her nonconformity with a masochistic joy of independence. In poem #448, “This was a Poet,” Dickinson glorifies the wisdom of poets. As a poet, herself, she feels she “Distills amazing sense / From Ordinary Meanings” (#448). The poem is self-aggrandizing, and the confidence she has in her knowledge shows that she may enjoy not fitting in. Though she is entirely isolated, her subtle pretension puts her in a powerful position above others.
The American Woman’s Home promotes this power of knowledge, as well. Though the Beecher sisters emphasize subservience as a key trait of women, they also praise women as teachers and bearers of wisdom. Women are meant to teach others to obtain “intelligence, virtue, and true happiness” (Beecher 23). Dickinson prides herself in having the knowledge most desired of women, and holds herself above others. Though her independence is self-defining, Dickinson nevertheless recognizes what loneliness comes from deviance.
Dickinson floated along a border between fascination and reluctance, feeling as if her efforts to be involved in society were in vain. The diction in poem #177 effectively brings to light Dickinson’s hesitation to branch out from her almost self-imposed isolation. Because the religious community to which she fails to relate affects even the social hierarchy of her household, she writes with an acute specificity to assert her need for complete isolation to survive in spite of her curiosity and best effort to reach out.
The Arctic flower is creeping along a “polar hem” (#177). Not only is a ‘hem’ defined as “a border; an edge” that the flower crosses, but also an area “to enclose and confine” (Webster 102). This definition stresses Dickinson’s own state of confinement and her separation from those around her on her own. It is interesting for the Arctic flower to spend time upon the hem rather than within the hem; Dickinson has made multiple attempts and trials to sneak out of personal quarantine, but her precaution and desire to stay dissociated keeps her from straying too far.
Emily Dickinson’s “As if some little Arctic flower” is an analogous poem that expresses her own discomfort among everyone around her. Her separation from others in religious and social situations is isolating, which, in the context of her home life and poems, may feel either lonesome or autonomous. Poem #339, “I like a look of Agony,” shows that, however lonely she may be, Dickinson prefers to stay distant from those around her.
She would rather not fit in among ‘summer flowers’ “Because [she] know[s] it’s true” (#339)—were she to feign comfort in religion, she would be lying to herself and others. As she accepts her isolation, she is being honest about her beliefs (or lack thereof). Dickinson, this Arctic flower, cannot see any point in allowing herself to be assimilated into a religiously demanding social field. Conformity is logically impossible to Dickinson. Nevertheless, conformity, to her, is equally undesirable.