As If Some Little Arctic Flower Analysis

Impressed by Emily Dickinson’s erudite and complex manner of writing, T.W. Higginson suggested his scholar leave her father’s home to reach out and interact with others; her ruminations seemed to him to be worthy of great discussion. Because Dickinson shot out astounding “thoughts of such a quality” in her letters and poems, Higginson could not “understand how [she could] live so alone” (Johnson 461). However, despite her insight, she felt all too unfit to leave her home and speak openly to anyone at all. Dickinson displays the catastrophic effects of both her independence and insecurity in the poem, “As if some little Arctic flower” (#177). She embodies herself as this flower, communicating her inability to relate to and interact with others in both social and religious contexts. In the poem, a flower moves from a cold environment down to a fascinatingly warm and vibrant landscape. It is in awe of the environment, relating the southern landscape “To Eden” due to its perfect appearance. But, by “inference therefrom,” we can assume that the flower’s
Her separation from others in religious and social situations is isolating, which, in the context of her home life and poems, may feel either lonesome or autonomous. Poem #339, “I like a look of Agony,” shows that, however lonely she may be, Dickinson prefers to stay distant from those around her. She would rather not fit in among ‘summer flowers’ “Because [she] know[s] it’s true” (#339)—were she to feign comfort in religion, she would be lying to herself and others. As she accepts her isolation, she is being honest about her beliefs (or lack thereof). Dickinson, this Arctic flower, cannot see any point in allowing herself to be assimilated into a religiously demanding social field. Conformity is logically impossible to Dickinson. Nevertheless, conformity, to her, is equally