Analysis: Poem 677 (F876)
Analysis: Poem 677 (F876)
Analysis: Poem 677 (F876)
To be alive -- is Power --[1] Existence -- in itself --[2] Without a further function --[3] Omnipotence -- Enough --[4] To be alive -- and Will![5] 'Tis able as a God --[6] The Maker -- of Ourselves -- be what --[7] Such being Finitude![8]
Poem 677 [F876] "To be alive -- is Power" Analysis by David Preest [Poem]
As in poem 632 Emily had declared that the human 'brain is just the weight of God,' so in this poem she declares that existence in this life is 'omnipotence -- Enough' without the addition of any eternal life. To be alive and competent to will the good is to have the power of a God. If such is our Finitude, how can the 'Maker -- of Ourselves' be an advance on that? Emily held this view consistently. A note (L347) to Sue of 1870 consisted of just the sentence, 'Oh Matchless Earth -- We underrate the chance to dwell in Thee.' And poem 1408 written in 1877 begins The Fact that Earth is Heaven Whether Heaven is Heaven or not.
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