1. The saddest noise, the sweetest noise
Emily Dickinson Lecture
15th Nov 2011
Alison Aitken

2. The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,
The maddest noise that grows,
The birds, they make it in the spring,
At night’s delicious close
Between the March and April line,
That magical frontier
Beyond which summer hesitates,
Almost too heavenly near.
It makes us think of all the dead
That sauntered with us here.
By separation’s sorcery
Made cruelly more dear.
It makes us think of what we had,
And what we now deplore.
We almost wish those siren throats
Would go, and sing no more.
An ear can break a human heart
As quickly as a spear;
We wish the ear had not a heart
So dangerously near.

3. The saddest noise, the sweetest noise, (a) (8)
The maddest noise that grows, (b) (6)
The birds, they make it in the spring, (c) (8)
At night’s delicious close (b) (6)
Between the March and April line, (a) (8)
That magical frontier (b) (6)
Beyond which summer hesitates, (c) (8)
Almost too heavenly near. (b) (7?)
It makes us think of all the dead (a) (8)
That sauntered with us here. (b) (6)
By separation’s sorcery (c) (8)
Made cruelly more dear. (b) (6)
It makes us think of what we had, (a) (
And what we now deplore. (b)
We almost wish those siren throats (c)
Would go, and sing no more. (b)
An ear can break a human heart (a)
As quickly as a spear; (b)
We wish the ear had not a heart (a)
So dangerously near. (b)

4. The saddest noise, the sweetest noise, The maddest noise that grows,
Superlatives “est” – bird’s song = extremes of sad, sweet, mad (erratic, complex)
Begins with noise – not with subject (birds) = immediate aural confusion
The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,
The maddest noise that grows,
The birds, they make it in the spring,
At night’s delicious close
“Birds” (first in line), “make it” – creators
Sing-song melody, created by abcb, 8/6 meter, “delicious” and “night’s close” = romantic, atmosphere.

5. Between the March and April line, That magical frontier
Line/frontier – battle line?
Between / line – transitional (think noon in others)
Magical – enchanted, romantic, fairy-tale feel?
Between the March and April line,
That magical frontier
Beyond which summer hesitates,
Almost too heavenly near.
The giddy, anxious, quivering of “in between” think back to Hungry… “trembling” moment just before…
Expectation: love, romance?

6. Opens with ponderous lofty/ whimsical line
Finishes with…all the…dead (subtle contrast/incongruous word choice)
It makes us think of all the dead
That sauntered with us here.
By separation’s sorcery
Made cruelly more dear.
Sibilant s – whispered, slapping – sinister atmosphere
Oppositions: cruel and dear = complexity of emotional experience stimulated by birds’ song
Sauntered: walk slowly, no rush

7. Birds’ song has become “siren”
It makes us think of what we had
And what we now deplore
We almost wish those siren throats
Would go and sing no more
Birds’ song has become “siren”
Throat – biological (practical, no longer magical)
We – inclusive - humanity, universal emotional experience>
The birds’ call brings pain – so much that the P wishes they would “go and sing no more”.

8. We wish – inclusive persona Does ED belong with us??
Simple, effective simile: sounds can break a …heart/as quickly as a spear
An ear can break a human heart
As quickly as a spear;
We wish the ear had not a heart
So dangerously near.
Spear – weapon, rapid, piercing, horrific
Danger – to feel pain of lost friends
In ED’s usual style, its deceptively simple conclusion - is hard to comprehend!
We wish – inclusive persona
Does ED belong with us??