Some keep the Sabbath going to Church by Emily Dickinson- Poem Analysis and Summary

Emily Dickinson as a poet

Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 to a prominent family. She was haunted by the menace of death throughout her life. Although she had written 800 poems between 1858 to 1865, it was discovered by her sister that Emily had written around 1800 poems in her lifetime which she dint want to get published. Emily Dickinson is more complex and interesting by the fact that her poems sounded like hymns and throughout her life we can see her faith waxing and waning in her poetry. Her work reflects a conflicted American world view. Thus she is called ” The most paradoxical of poets; The very poet of paradox“.

Poem Some keep the Sabbath going to Church

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –
I keep it, staying at Home –
With a Bobolink for a Chorister –
And an Orchard, for a Dome –

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice –
I, just wear my Wings –
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton – sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman –
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last –
I’m going, all along.

Line by line interpretation of Some keep the Sabbath going to Church

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –
I keep it, staying at Home –
With a Bobolink for a Chorister –
And an Orchard, for a Dome –

The opening line is a statement made by the poet that some people wish to visit Church on Sabbath day. This clears that she is not speaking about herself and the statement is about the rest of the world. Looking at the history of the Sabbath day, it is mentioned in the ten commandments, the seventh day is a Sabbath day. This is because after six days of creation god kept the seventh day for rest. Thus, on the seventh day, people go to church.

In the next line, the poet speaks about herself. She would like to stay at home rather than going to church. It refers to the Sabbath day. We can realize that she is comparing and contrasting between church and Home. The Chorister is a singer in the Church but the poet considers the Bobolink (an American migratory songbird) as her Chorister. Similarly, she replaces a Dome ( a large rounded roof or ceiling that is shapedlike half of a ball) with an Orchard ( a place where people grow fruit trees).

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice –
I, just wear my Wings –
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton – sings.

The first line of the second stanza is the same as the first line of the first stanza except for the word Surplice. Here, she says that some wear Surplice(a white piece of clothing that is worn by priests or singers at church services) as their attire, but she would wear her Wings. This tells about the independence and freedom she has in her home. Referring to word wings makes this fiction, far from reality. But it might be that wings indicate her sanity and angel soul. Or it can be just her household cloths that are referred to as wings.

During the services in the church, Sexton (a person who takes care of church buildings and property and often rings the church’s bell during services) always tolls the bell, but in her home, Sexton sings instead of tolling the bell. So there are two interpretations here, either Sexton is the Bobolink bird which sings and serves the job of maintaining the house. Or it is the poet herself who takes care of the house who can also sing. The first interpretation sounds right as little is used before the word Sexton. The second interpretation can also be true because a bird can not maintain a house.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman –
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last –
I’m going, all along.

In the last stanza, the intensity of the poem increases. The lines now speak not just about the house or the church, instead it also has something to say about spirituality and devotion. The first line sounds incomplete and feels like it’s just phrased. She asserts that God preaches and has mentioned noted clergymen. The question arises in the mind whether it is God who preaches or the clergymen. Or is it that clergymen are middlemen according to the poet? If not, Is the poet referring to god as the noted clergymen? The sermon is never long is the description given with reference to the house. She can pray to God the way she likes, it can be either long or short, there insists nobody else between her and god. There is this widely accepted belief that going to church on sabbath day will lead people into heaven after death. However, the poet considers that it is still possible to go to heaven after death if you believe your house is as sacred as a church.

Analysis of Some keep the Sabbath day going to Church

This poem is all about how an individual chooses a path to offer prayer to God. We can observe that the poem compares the two ways of offering prayer where people go to church to seek blessings of God whereas the poet opts to remain at her house which she considers to be her holy place. Emily Dickinson beautifully writes on how a house can also be a place of worship. A devotee can reach his God anytime and anywhere no matter where he prays or how poor he offers his prayers. The poem can be stated as a mockery of certain beliefs and practices. But we can conclude that rather than mockery poet is emphasizing more on her way of offering prayer than going to church on the day of the sabbath.

Some specialties of the poem are that the starting letter of each line is capital and dashes are prominent. This is a common feature in Emily Dickinson’s poem. Many critics believe that capital letters are used for personifying common nouns and dashes represent the missing words in the lines. The missing words could be anything and this allows the reader’s independence to apply words according to individual interpretation.

Emily Dickinson spent most of her time in solitude and rarely left her room. Some critics opine that she had to take care of her mother due to her chronic illness which did not allow her to go to church on the sabbath day. This can also be a reason for Emily to transform her house into a holy place. Similar to her other poems nature always stands significant in this poem. Themes like devotion, religion, faith, nature are reflected.

The poem had three stanzas with four lines each. Looking at the rhyme scheme, only the second and the fourth line are under rhyme.

Poetic Devices

*Alliteration:-

-Wear my wings

– Sexton- sings

-I’m going, all along.

-Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice.

* Metophor:

– Bobolink for a Chorister.

– Sexton for either Bobolink or to the poet.

*Consonance:

– And the sermon is never long

– So instead of getting to Heaven

* Assonance:

– I keep it, staying at Home.

– So instead of getting to Heaven.