Experience and Faith The Late-Romantic Imagination of Emily Dickinson

by Brantley, Richard E.

• ISBN13: 9780230602373
• ISBN10: 0230602371
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-05-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The empirical/evangelical dialectic of Romantic Anglo-America culminates in the poetry of Emily Dickinson (1830-86) . For example, just as her poems of science and technology reflect her faith in experience, and just as her lyrics about natural history build on this empiricism and develop her commitment to natural religion, so too do her poems of revealed religion constitute her experience of faith. Thus, for an American audience, Dickinson recasts British-Romantic themes of natural and spiritual perception. This double perspective, this counterintuitive combination of natural models with spiritual metaphors, parallels the androgynous ideal of her nineteenth-century feminism and champions her belief in immortality. The experience/faith paradox of her Late-Romantic imagination forms the mind and soul, as well as the heart, of her legacy.

Author Biography

Dan Henk serves as a social anthropologist on the faculty of the U.S. Air War College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
General	p. ix
Particular	p. x
Introduction	p. 1
Contexts	p. 1
Procedures	p. 4
Principles	p. 10
Distinguishing Mode	p. 17
Anglo-American Theme	p. 17
Signature Lyric	p. 22
Discrete Stage	p. 26
Experimental Trust	p. 31
Empirical Bearings	p. 31
Educational Advantages	p. 36
Primitive Physick	p. 45
Industrial Arts	p. 50
Scientific Florilegium	p. 55
Challenging Evolution	p. 62
Sense-Based Reason	p. 71
Unassuming Knowledge	p. 73
Nature Methodized	p. 78
Spiritual Leanings	p. 78
Atmospheric Conditions	p. 81
Fair Weather	p. 85
Circadian Rhythm	p. 88
Flower Pieces	p. 90
Tree Maintenance	p. 93
Watched Insects	p. 96
Perceiving Birds	p. 97
Perfect Ambiguity	p. 102
Natural Parents	p. 104
Outside Church	p. 108
Romantic to Modern Arc	p. 116
Looking Backward	p. 116
Healthy Skepticism	p. 117
Modest Confidence	p. 121
Qualified Enablers	p. 125
Experiential Aesthetics	p. 132
Triune Sample	p. 134
Full Circle	p. 138
Imaginary Bridge	p. 141
Looking Forward	p. 142
Perennial Hope	p. 148
Special Appeal	p. 151
Ongoing Possibility	p. 154
Miscellaneous Adjustments	p. 155
Penultimate Formulation	p. 160
Compound Vision	p. 161
Practical Conspectus	p. 165
Further Step	p. 165
Retrospective Visitation	p. 166
Final Prospect	p. 176
Conclusion	p. 190
Reaffirmation	p. 190
Profession	p. 195
Proclamation	p. 203
Notes	p. 213
Works Cited	p. 240
Index of Poems Cited	p. 258
Index	p. 261
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