In Emily Dickinson's poem "It dropped so low — in my Regard," what is "it" and what two things are compared?
Like many other Emily Dickinson's poems, "It dropped so low — in my Regard" wasn't published until after her death. Like many other of her poems, "It dropped so low — in my Regard" is enigmatic, unconventional, and eccentric, and it defies analysis and definitive interpretation.
It dropped so low — in my Regard —
I heard it hit the Ground —
And go to pieces on the Stones
At bottom of my Mind —
"It," whatever "it" is—and only the speaker knows what "it" is—is something that she held in high regard, but "Fate," or chance (or the inevitability of growth and discovery, or perhaps even self-discovery) causes "it" to be brought into sharp focus in the speaker's mind, where it proves to be much more insubstantial and significantly less worthy of esteem than she had previously believed.
On closer examination, "it" isn't really as precious, meaningful, or...
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important as the speaker once thought it was, and "it" crashes to the stones on the ground—falls to the depths of utter disregard at the "bottom of my Mind"—like a piece of pottery, and breaks into pieces.
Yet blamed the Fate that flung it — less
Than I denounced Myself,
For entertaining Plated Wares
Upon my Silver Shelf —
Rather than blame herself for her own mistaken or misguided estimation of the worth of whatever "it" is, the speaker chooses to blame "Fate" for, in effect, throwing it into her face so she can't ignore it, which she might have done had not "Fate" intervened.
Nevertheless, the speaker scolds herself for being misled by false appearances ("Plated Wares"). She shouldn't have been so easily taken in or become so readily enamored of the silver-plated, artificially enhanced, deceptively presented object. She should have known that the silver-plated "it" shouldn't be held in the same regard or esteem as the pure silver or sterling silver objects on her "Silver Shelf."
There seems to be a mixed metaphor in the poem. The speaker first mentions that "it" falls to the ground and goes to pieces on the stones, like pottery or crockery, or even glass, but then she changes the frame of reference to silver, either plated or real silver, which doesn't shatter or go to pieces when it falls on the ground or on stones. The changing imagery of whatever "it" is simply adds to the depth and mystery of the poem and makes a definitive analysis even more elusive.
How can we interpret Emily Dickinson's poem "It dropped so low—in my Regard"?
Emily Dickinson's poem beginning with the line "It dropped so low -- in my
Regard" is open to a wide variety of interpretations.
One thing we can note is that she juxtaposes concrete objects with
abstract concepts. We see this juxtaposition in the very first stanza
when she opens with something dropping so low that it hits the ground and
shatters into a million pieces "on the Stones." Only concrete objects can hit
the ground and shatter on stones. Yet, the reader is left trying to answer the
question, what exactly fell? And the answer lies in the fact
that her next line refers to an abstract concept rather than a concrete
object, showing us the juxtaposition between the concrete and the
abstract. Her final line in the first stanza refers to the "bottom of my mind,"
and a mind, or a person's thoughts, is an abstract concept not a concrete
object. Therefore, whatever fell only fell in her mind, not in
reality.
In the second stanza, she begins speaking about her reaction
to the unknown thing that has fallen in her mind. She "blamed" fate for it
having fallen. She further says she blamed fate less than she "denounced
[herself]." To denounce is to censure, meaning to reprimand or show
disapproval; therefore, she is saying that she blamed fate rather than
blamed or censured herself. Yet, since she is juxtaposing blaming fate
with blaming and censuring herself, the reader can conclude she thinks blaming
and censuring herself is really the more appropriate
response.
The reader is next left to ask, what is it about this unnamed fallen
object that makes her feel she should censure herself? The answer lies
in the next two lines: "For entertaining Plated Wares / Upon My Silver
Shelf--." Here, the word "Plated" refers to gold platting; the word "Wares"
refers to any items, goods, or services that can be bought; the verb
"entertain" is probably best understood by its obsolete definitions, which are
to receive, as in receiving company, or to look after; and the image "silver
shelf" simply refers to a literal shelf made of silver. Hence, all in all, she
is saying that she blamed fate rather than blamed and censured
herself for receiving and looking after some gold-plated
object on her silver shelf. But what does that mean exactly?
Something else fascinating in these lines is the juxtaposition of gold in the
word "Plated" with "Silver." Silver is far less precious than gold; hence,
whatever object she had displayed on her shelf that fell and shattered was far
more valuable and costly than the shelf she put it on. In other words, she is
calling herself inferior for entertaining on an inferior shelf
whatever precious item she had that shattered. One might assume that the object
was a dream or ambition; therefore, she is saying that she is
far too inferior to have entertained such a dream or ambition, and, of course,
it has now shattered into a thousand pieces.
All in all, the poem is about loss. The speaker has just had
to give up on something, like a dream or an ambition, because it has just
shattered, and she prefers to blame fate for it having shattered than to blame
herself for being so foolish as to entertain such a notion when she is clearly
unworthy; yet, she clearly realizes she is truly the one to blame.
Can you demonstrate a connection between the structure and content of Emily Dickinson's poem "It dropped so low - in my Regard"?
Emily Dickinson: "It dropped so low - in my Regard"
It dropped so low in my regard
I heard it hit the ground,
And go to pieces on the stones
At bottom of my mind;
Yet blamed the fate that fractured, less
Than I reviled myself
For entertaining plated wares
Upon my silver shelf.
In Emily Dickinson's "It dropped so low—in my Regard," I can see that there is a relationship between the language and the meter chosen, and the poem's structure.
The meter of the poem is also seen in other poems by this author: there are two stanzas in this piece, and the pattern of rhythm each stanza follows is eight beats in the first and third lines, and six beats in the second and fourth. The beat settles on everything other syllable, starting with the second syllable of each line, so there are four accented syllables in the first and third lines, and three accented syllables in the second and fourth lines.
Since the poem speaks of something dropping, I would consider that perhaps the meter mimics the sound of something falling. It does not refer to multiple things dropping, so my sense is that the repeated "thudding" might speak to the depth to which this "something" has plummeted in the speaker's regard.
The idea of the "dropping" is also "heard" in the language Dickinson chooses, such as: hit, pieces, fractured, and plated wares. In terms of language, imagery here is also important to the sense of something dropping: "I heard it hit the ground, / And go to pieces on the stones..."
The structure of the poem is found in devices such as meter and language, which support the message Emily Dickinson is attempting, beautifully, to convey to the reader: someone has fallen off of the speaker's pedestal, falling in her regard or esteem.