Name: watch video on Emily Dickinson's "I dwell in Possibility"
Uploaded: 2016-09-10T13:04:23.481Z
Duration: 23 min 28 s

Our job is to talk about I dwell in Possibility poem number 466 and we'll do

it by collaborating together on a collective close reading. So, Max, when we

get to the word dwell, it's all yours to start us off on it. Molly, Possibility.

Good luck with that one. Mm-hm. Anna, I want you to handle the ratio that's

implicit in the house and the, and prose, p, r, o, s, e. House prose, etc. Amaris

are there a lot of windows in your family house at home? Yes. A lot of

windows? Yes. Okay. So, I want you to take numerous for windows, numerous of windows

and Emily, help her out with the doors and the chambers. Right? Ali, you and I,

together going to do the everlasting roof. And Dave you've got the visitors,

visitors. And, Max, you'll have fairest. We're going to have quick work of all

this. All of us are going to do occupation. And Molly, you have the word

this, which is an important word, not only in Dickinson but maybe in the English

language. And we'll all do the spread and wide, our narrow hands at the end. Okay,

here we go. Max, you have dwell. To dwell is to live in. Yeah. We also associate

dwelling, dwelling on something to think of something. Obsessed. Over obsessed.

Can't get it out of your mind, dwell. So , negative, slightly negative word when

you're dwelling on that test that's coming up next week. Absolutely. What was the

first one? Reside? Reside to live in. Yeah. Dwelling is like a more official

word for a house or somewhere right there. Great. Molly, she says or the speaker I

says, that she dwells in Possibility, capital p. First of all, why capitalized?

Because it's important. Right. We don't do that in English though, do we? No. In

American English of the twenty-first century. Did they do it typically in

Dickinson's time in the nineteenth century. I think. Is your historical guess? They've

already done with that. They were done with it. This time. It's an eighteenth

century thing and prior. Spelling, capitalization, you know, Germans, still

capitalize nouns. So, she's doing i t with parenthesis. Alright. But now, tell us

about the word. I think in a singular sense, so that's written here. It's sort

of like a set of unlimited options. If I came to you and said something is

possible, what would I mean? That it, that it could happen, That it could happen,

good. As opposed to? As supposed to not being a possibility. Okay. That it

couldn't happen. What about probability? , Well, probability means it's likely to

happen. Okay. Which is this? Possibility is sometimes, it's possible to put people

on Mars, but not likely. And we think of that as a possibility when presidential

candid, candidate says, it's possible. Meaning, I'd like to do it but it's kind

of a long shot. But if, if my horse is you know, a sure shot winner and I bet on

that, it's more like probability. Which do you think this is? This connotation seems

much more sort of open and much more positive so I think it's. She dwells

there. She dwells there. Except if she's dwelling as in worrying about a test in

which case, she's obsessed with possibility and might not be good. Who

knows with Emily Dickinson but we'll come back to that. Thank you. Anna, you have

the house, a fairer house. Why create a metaphor of a house for where she lives in

possibility? That's interesting because it seems like there's, that there's a divide

if it's, if it's, if there's a house of prose and a house of, of possibility.

Yeah. That there's, there are two separate entities here. So, she is making a

comparison using the word fairer, who's got fairest later in this poem? Max again?

,, , How did that happened? We have fairer house and visitors are the fairest, just

define fair really quickly. Equal, just. But also. Equal, just. Whoa, just as in

justice. Fair like, you're being unfair to me, no I'm trying to be fair. Okay. Or

pretty. Pretty, of course. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them

all? The visitor. Okay, so, it's a fairer house so it's a house of justice, it's a

just house. But I'm not so sure that Dickinson, the Dickinsonian elitism, I'm

sorry for that word so early in our discussions of that Dickinson. Isn't at

play here to some degree. It's, she's, she's prideful about this house, this is

a, what kind of house? Fairer house, a prettier house. Well, maybe if we jump

out, it's a superior house. House with a lot of windows, Amaris, less expensive

or more expensive? More expensive. Why? Probably. You don't know. No. Well,

glasses are more expensive during the period, you know. Dave, you want to say

something? It does have doors. It didn't have to but it does.>> Right. So, this is

this is a, let's just call it a fancy house. A, a, a worked up house. A, an

architected house. This, a house of a dream design. Okay. So now, let's get to

this comparison. A fairer house than, not a fair house than garden apartment. Not a

fairer house than a split level. Not a fairer house than a hovel but A fairer

House than Prose. Anna? Which means that she is, she's saying that the house of

possibility that there, that there are more possibilities in her house than there

are in prose. So, possibility is to what as what is to prose. They're two, two this

is hard, right? ,, , Possibilities. It's a little, little expiration. Right. I guess

possibility is, it's kind of. If we, if we. Let's do the other side of the ratio

first. What we. Okay. What, what's the opposite prose in the, in the ratio?

Possibility. No, what's the opposite of prose? Poetry. Poetry, right? Reverse. I

mean, when you see the word prose in Emily Dickinson you, you think about it because

this is the, the, the language here and the lineation, the dashes, the ambiguity,

the capitalization, it's so poetic that when she says, prose, she means something

that's not what she's doing. Okay. So, poetry is to prose as what is to what? I

guess possibility. Is to. House or. What's the opposite, don't get stuck on one of

her conceits. Possibility is to poetry. Impossibility. Is to, okay, the floor is

open. Anna says, poetry is to prose as possibility is t o impossibility. What,

what, what do you think? Structure. Limits. Limits. Restriction. Restriction.

Emily? Established sort of, they can. Conventions. Linguistic conventions. Okay.

So, she's dwelling in possibility and it's nicer than prose and she's using the

conceit of the house. Now she runs wild with the conceit which is something Emily

Dickinson does a lot. So, Amaris, you've always talk about this, but that

will be brief and windows means. Allowing multiple perspectives, view points and.

So, you're really down with the conceit. So, she usually, Emily really allows this

extended conceit to just go crazy so you keep thinking, okay, the, we can see in.

Mm-hm. More perspectives, more light. Keep going, anything else? Yeah. I was going to

say that it does imply a reciprocity of vision but Emily seems to emphasize

enclosure more I think and. Certainly, with doors and chambers, yeah. Right.

Okay, good. Superior for Doors. Who has got that? Emily, yeah. Well, I guess it's

superior in terms of like construction of building. I suggest that it has a visible

quality that lends itself at the doors. Why, what's analogous between lots of windows

and expensive, hardcore doors? You're guessing about the Dickinsonian

personality. She's building a house. She wants lots of windows, good doors. Take a

guess. There's no real answer to those. Well, I guess, windows generally are meant

for looking out and doors entrances. Letting the light in and doors are

entrances. So, do we know anything about the Dickinsonian personality on the basis

of just that? Ali if you go to someone's house and you say, wow, they have a lot of

windows but the doors, I mean, there's triple locks. They're, you know. Well, you

know, I think that kind of hints towards her reclusive personality. So. You're

maybe committing a biographical fallacy but that's okay. Yeah. That's okay. Well, you know,

,, . She wants to keep you out somewhat, this is not really a democratic poetry. In

fact, it maybe the prose that somehow, I mean, we're going to get to Whitman later.

Maybe there's an, she wouldn't been aware of Whitman probably at this time. But,

prose seems like they're going to have lots of doors, everybody can come in and

this house, I'm not so sure everybody can come in. Chambers as the Cedars, is

that still Emily? Mm-hm. What are, what are chambers? Chambers, I guess. In the

house. Rooms, Rooms? They also applies to anatomy and some weird ways. I couldn't

quite understand the analogy as the cedars, I. Well let's stick with rooms

first before we get to what the cedar suggest. Chambers, you are right, are

rooms. There's a particular room that's probably right for the word choice of

chamber. Chamber. Bedroom, bedroom. Okay. But, cedars throws us off. Okay, what's

made a cedar? Probably you don't have cedar in this space in your house. But,

someone would have, with little extra money. Molly? I was going to say, a cedar

chest or a cedar closet. A closet, why do we put cedar in a closet? Cuz it keeps

moths away. Yes, it keeps moths away. So, a fancy closet. This is really a fancy

house. So, it's possibly a closet. Although, chambers suggest bedroom, it's

possible that the bedroom is made of cedars. But, cedar also suggests something

else. Anybody know about trees? Not really is. Like the forest [inaudible]. It's the

end stage of tree in a certain part of the world, right? So there's oak in some parts

of the world, Hemlock. Cedar is one of those. Cedar is the tallest tree in a

certain area, Lebanon, for instance. Okay. So we've got. Syntactically is really

bizarre. Of chambers as the cedars. So, chambers are probably not native Cedar,

they're probably as tall as Cedars. As tall as Cedars. Right. And who's got

Impregnable of eye? We didn't do that one but take, take a guess. Ali? Impregnable

of eye means? Makes an impression. I don't think so. Wow. There's a wrong answer. ,,

, That's so cool. That's something you can't look through or. Yes. Get through.

Impregnable of eye you can't, you cannot see inside these bedrooms and that's a

little weird because as we're about to find out, there's no roof. So, it's

supposed to be climbed up to the top and windows. So this is a, this is like a

Borgesian house. ,, , You know, this is really like Escher. I mean, that Dickin,

Dickinson is like Escher. Go ahead, Dave. What were you going to say? Well,

Impregnable of eye echoes the doors that they're both exclusionary and you could

relate that to, relate that to her elitism. Say more. Well, the Impregnable of eye

it just, keeps people out the doors, keep people out but the doors have locks on

them. I think what she's saying, it has to do with, you know, her ability to let

people in under the price of admission. Are you feeling like you're being let into

this poem? I know it's hard work and we're doing it together. Is this a poem that

invites you in? I think she's saying that if you pay the cost of admission, you can

come in. What's the cost of admission? Dwelling possibility, using your

imagination. We'll try to understand this . I mean. We're doing a lot of work. Yes,

we're doing a lot of work. A lot of work. So, you know, it's hello, a visitor, a

reader here. Who are you? I'm working on it. ,, , I'm working on it, can I come in?

Once you work. Give me the, give me the code, what's the answer? And for an

everlasting Roof, we have this conceit this, you know, and in most Dickinson

poems, and others will talk about soon. She abandons the conceit when she starts

it. But in this poem, she kind of sticks with it for a while. So, we've got A

fairer House than Prose. The house of poetry has a lot of windows, really good

doors, very tall bedrooms that you can't see in. And now, as for a roof, I love

that. And for, now we go to the roof, what kind of roof? And for an everlasting roof,

what? Who's got roof? Did we do that? Did I assign that, Ali? Yup. Well you know,

right after that she says the sky. And so, as opposed to a roof that could potentially

collapse, which would be kind if she follow the rest so they conceit, of the

architecture of poetry. You know, this is an everlasting roof. It's an infinite

Would you. There's no limit. When your, when your family hits the roof on you

house or the apartment building you're renting gets a new the roof, how many

years does it last? I mean, this is something that people who bought roofs,

know like me but maybe you know. I don't know but I was hoping. Typically. A couple

of centuries. Oh. ,, , Goodness, gracious. ,, , This is The American Roofer Union is

going to love you. ,, , Well, I think it's. You know, we can get, that tell you,

that tell you it's a 30 year roof and it's probably ten. Okay. You know, you've gotta

do a new roof. Unless you get a super roof, it's pretty bad and, and I'm sorry

that there are probably some roofers you're going to, you know. She's avoiding

all of that by saying that the roof is the sky. This is, this is an everlasting

roof and everlasting is good. It's not only guaranteed forever, you know, unlike

the roofer, but there is no roofer, because in a way, God is the roofer in a

way that the roof is the heavens and that's everlasting. It's a good word to

use for something heavenly. Everlasting roof. The Gambrels of the Sky. Now,

Gambrels are those things that you would use, and architects were, builders were to

structure the thing that holds the roof together. Kinda like the lintel for roofs.

Okay. So, The Gambrels of the Sky, so there's a typical Dickinsonian way of

dealing with the metaphor, Gambrels of the Sky. The sky doesn't have Gambrels, the

sky is held up by itself, by air, by life, by heaven, so The Gambrels of the Sky.

Now, so we've done, we've done windows, we've done doors, we've done bedroom,

we've got the roof in place. And now, who comes to the house? Of Visitors, and did I

assign visitors to anybody? Well, Emily, oh Dave, I'm so sorry, who are the

visitors? I think it could be read two ways, I think. It could be the visitors

are the people who, like her, dwell into possibility, who are invited. But, I, I

want to read it as the visitors could be an ybody who chooses to use their

imagination. She's sort of inviting people telling them what they need to do, what

they still have to do. So, she, she begins by saying, I live in possibility. It's a

better house than prose. You're not reading prose here, you're reading poetry.

So, I live in possibility and people who visit me in possibility are required, or

it's, if you're going to get something out of it, you need to have. An imagination

And you're saying an imagination. You need to have the imagination to imagine being

in the house in which the sky is. Limitless. Limitless, the sky is the limit

in Dickinson, is what she's saying here in a way. Of Visitors the fairest. What kind

of visitors? Max, the fairest? The fairest. Well again, either the most

equal, the most just, the loveliest. And only those. And only those. So it's, she's

pretty discriminating and she's, and Dickinson or the Dickinsonian subject is

pretty darn discriminating. She's not letting everybody in. When we get to Walt

Whitman in this chapter, we're going to find someone who wants everyone to come

in. This is a very big difference between the two. And it's not coincidental given

this poem that, that Dickinson writes in verse that is very verse-like. It's got

intense use of verse tools and strategies. From the ambiguity, from the express by

the capitalization, from the dash which we're going to talk about in a second. And

Whitman who writes a verse, very much a verse. And a verse that's been very

influential, can be said to be writing prose-like verse. She's not opposing

herself specifically to Whitman, but she's setting up an aesthetic, a pre-modern

aesthetic. A proto-modern aesthetic that's very different from the Whitmanian

aesthetics. So, it's helpful for us to see the two. So, Of Visitors the fairest. For,

for, for Whitman is going to be a visitor, the commonest, the cheapest, the easiest.

For her, the fairest, only those who are fair. So, you knock on the door. Who is

it? I'm fair, I'm beautiful, I'm just, I'm something. Whatever it i s that's, that's

extreme. Okay. So, those are the visitors. Not all of us but we because we've been

working hard I suppose. Now, For Occupation, did I assign the word

occupation? All of us. All of us. Okay. Molly. This is going to be work. The

occupation can also mean living like dwelling but there's just something. Well,

it's a pause there now. Don't run over your best point, right? Occupation refers

to dwell. I, I reside dear occupant. Whoever dwells there is the occupant. So,

For Occupation, she takes occupying and makes it a noun. Okay, go ahead. What's the

next connotation? I was going to say there is something more permanent about

occupation than dwelling. And the connotation of it? Okay. Anna, another

connotation of occupation. That can also mean, your life's work, your job. Your

job, what's your occupation? I think on, census forms, they don't say, what's your

job? They say, what's your occupation? Occupation, teacher. Occupation, plumber.

Occupation, roofer. I don't want you if you are a roofer. ,, , For Occupation,

what I do. And, now, how many of you work at home? Well, you guys were students for

the most part. But, if you work at home, I mean, Emily telecommuted basically,

between herself and her poems which she put in her drawer and occasionally

publication. But, her work was done at home. Her work was done in the house of

possibility. The poem that you're reading is one of those things that she did as the

result of her occupation. We're going to find Lorine Niedecker a little later in

this course. Talk about how her job is to do this. So, for occupation, for job, oh,

there's a third sense of occupation. It's probably not appropriate but it's in this

part of our lives, in this part of the century is a very important where, Dave .

I was thinking of Occupy Wall Street but I don't think that's what you had in mind. ,, ,

occupation can mean, what one army does to a nation or what one nation that's

aggressive and imperialistic does to it. So, you, if you are occupied, it means

that people are essentially in yo ur house. Like soldiers in the South during

the civil would occupy a house and then eat and everything out, and so forth. I'm

sure she would not given the dwelling a possibility, appreciated that much.

Possibly, it's a modern interpretation of a poem that didn't mean it but it's worth

thinking about that. Okay. So, the word This. The most, I said, the most important

word in English language did I say that we would all do that? Well, that's me. Molly.

,, , Though, we should all help. Okay. To me, This, This is the poem, it's the poem

itself. It's kind of a meta-statement. It's a meta-statement. Okay. So, the dash

after this can do two things. If it were, if the dash weren't a dash but a colon,

what would your answer be? This would be the spreading wide of the case. Yes, this

would be whatever follows. The spreading wide. So, the, after the occupation would

be The spreading wide my narrow Hands, To gather Paradise. It's kind of a holy

notion of the poet in the house. It maybe that but it's not a colon, it's a dash.

So, you read it as if almost it was a period. And the spreading wide is almost

fragment coming afterwards, or a semicolon maybe. And if you read it that way, go

ahead with your reading. You started it. The self reference. That was all that we

had. For Occupation. This is the poem. This, this is this. This. This. This.

This. This. When I say this, it's one of those indicative words. It's vague because

if I don't point, if I don't use the indicative, the specific indicative, this

could be general, this. This. This. But, this is, this is a cup with Kelly Writers

House. This. Okay, For Occupation This, refer because it's a printed word this

and, and Emily would have been written a word with a dash. This, refers to this,

this what though, this poem, keep going. Also, the action of writing. The action of

writing a poem. This. What are you doing Al? I'm doing this. I just wrote the word

This. This. What are you doing? I'm writing. I'm actually making myself. I'm

creating a subject. I'm creating a self. I'm doing this and figure out who I am,

and figuring out what my relationship to the world is. I'm figuring out what

writing means to me and how it creates a com, a subject that, that distinguishes

self from everybody else which is the opposite of what Walt Whitman wanted to

do. He wanted to create a self that was selfless. Strong but selfless, aggressive

but selfless. Emily is creating a self that's self full. Okay. So, For Occupation

This, this writing, this poem, anything else? This. Is like, I mean, like this

dwelling in possibility like. This, for occupation is, the, my job is to dwell

possibility and maybe there's one more. This. What else is this? The process. The

process of what? Of reading? Of reading? What are we doing? We're dwelling in

possibility where we. By doing the work of trying to understand this impossible

possibility, this difficult poem, this difficult writing. This difficult music as

Lori Anderson would say. For Occupation This, the work we're doing, the work we've

done in twenty minutes is work. It takes fourteen seconds to read prose like this,

newspaper prose, not memorable. I've been dealing with this poem for 30 years and I

still do the work and that's what my job is, and that's what our job is. Pretty

cool. Final thought, Max? Any final thought? It's a good occupation. ,, , It's

a good occupation, would you like to do this? Sure. I know you would. I know you

would. ,, , Yes, but I mean, for all the time. Absolutely, absolutely. Okay. Good. Terrific.

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