Safe in their Alabaster Chambers The one and only Emily Dickinson

Safe in their Alabaster Chambers 1859 version Safe in their Alabaster Chambers— Untouched by Morning And untouched by Noon— Sleep the meek members of the Resurrection— Rafter of satin, And Roof of stone. Light laughs the breeze In her Castle above them— Babbles the Bee in a stolid Ear, Pipe the Sweet Birds in ignorant cadence— Ah, what sagacity perished here! 1861 version Safe in their Alabaster Chambers— Untouched by Morning— And untouched by Noon— Lie the meek members of the Resurrection— Rafter of Satin—and Roof of Stone! Grand go the Years—in the Crescent—above them— Worlds scoop their Arcs— And Firmaments—row— Diadems—drop—and Doges—surrender— Soundless as dots—on a Disc of Snow—

Version 1~1859 annotations Safe in their Alabaster Chambers— Untouched by Morning And untouched by Noon— Sleep the meek members of the Resurrection— Rafter of satin, And Roof of stone. Light laughs the breeze In her Castle above them— Babbles the Bee in a stolid Ear, Pipe the Sweet Birds in ignorant cadence— Ah, what sagacity perished here! Connotation & irony of safe? Alabaster: white gypsum calcium/sulphate. Morning Symbol Repetition emph: the passage of time/eternity Allusion & irony. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the Earth Matthew 5:5. Why sleep? Connotation of satin Connotation of housing metaphor, irony Alliteration (throughout) personification Metaphor of world of the living Stolid: concealing or not expressing emotion Cadence: rhythm & 2. fall in pitch Sagacity adv of adj sagacious: discerning wisdom How does nature respond to those that supposedly have inherited the Kingdom of God?

1859 version Positive image of death and confident faith in the first stanza? In traditional Puritan belief, wealth was a sign of God’s elect; this does not, of course, necessarily mean that the poem itself assumes the apparent quiet assurance of the ‘meek’ dead awaiting resurrection. They may have satin-lined coffins and their confidence in resurrection, but their reality is suggested by the way they are cut off from all vitality and sensation by the ‘roof of stone.’ The dead in their alabaster chambers, one of Dickinson’s most effective and chilling images, seem suspended in some cold white prison. They are untouched by “Morning’, associated with hope, or by ‘Noon’, which we might associate with fulfilment and intensity. All that is left for them is the unmentioned night and death. Repetition = timelessness and suspension, emphasised by the slowness forced by the end-stopped lines. Stanza 2 contrasts the coldness and suspension of the dead with the vibrancy and activity of nature. Vitality emphasised by alliterative effects. Is this consolation? Or natural images to emphasise the terrifying deprivation of vitality imposed by death?

1861~version 2 Safe in their Alabaster Chambers— Untouched by Morning— And untouched by Noon— Lie the meek members of the Resurrection— Rafter of Satin—and Roof of Stone! Grand go the Years—in the Crescent—above them— Worlds scoop their Arcs— And Firmaments—row— Diadems—drop—and Doges—surrender— Soundless as dots—on a Disc of Snow— Why change of punctuation here? Finality? Tone? Firmament: when the sky is regarded as a vault Diadems: crowns. Doges: Chief magistrate/Rulers of Venice Metaphors for passing of time, note scale difference form version 1. Last line?

1861 version Possibility of change of tone suggested by dash and exclamation mark in stanza 1? Emphasis is thrown on the final phrase. 2nd stanza rather than contrasting the dead with the natural world, contrasts the dead with larger, even cosmic events. The slow movement of the planets and constellations and the grand passing of time continues and in the face of this cosmic power, earthly power and material values seem unimportant. What appears important on earth makes no impression in the greater scheme of things Final line returns to the chilling whiteness introduced by the Alabaster chambers but compounds the effects with the aural image of dots dropping soundlessly on a snowflake – utter coldness and silence.

Why two versions? Dickinson’s conflict may indicate an inability to choose between the desire for secure religious faith and a belief in cosmic indifference. Relevance for us?