Second Bite of the Apple

Chapter 5: The Language of Love

Chapter 5: The Language of Love

Miss Knight is one of those teachers I've always had a great deal of respect for. She has the ability to keep an entire room hanging off her every word and we usually all emerge from her lessons a little mentally drained. The girls all admire how she makes smart look sexy, and the guys, well they just think she's sexy.

Once we'd all settled down, Miss Knight stood up and started to pace slowly up the rows of seats. As she walked, she recited an unfamiliar poem (from memory), her voice coated with passion. Whilst most of the males in the room did not take their eyes from Miss Knight's slender figure as she roamed freely between the tables, I stared resolutely out of the window, focusing on the words.

"To pity those that know her not

Is helped by the regret

That those who know her, know her less

The nearer her they get."

The silence that hung in the air after Miss Knight finished speaking was so prominent that you could hear the clock ticking.

"Would anybody like to make any comments on what we just heard?" Miss Knight enquired.

As expected, Meghan's hand shot into the air almost as soon as Miss Knight stopped speaking.

"Anyone else?" She looked around imploringly.

I had plenty I could have said but thought as most of my comments involved Miss Foster it was best I kept them to myself. The poem did get me thinking though; maybe everything I was feeling was in my head. Maybe it was best I keep my distance from Miss Foster until I've figured things out.

"Okay, Meghan, what did you think?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the poem is one of Emily Dickinson's. She speaks of natural elements throughout but unusually personifies them using masculine pronouns. In Dickinson's opinion, nature is a stranger and even those that are close to nature still have insufficient knowledge. Personally, I think the "well" into which the poem dives is a metaphor for nature and like the concept of nature is "floorless". The closing statement suggests that those who know nothing are actually in the better position to appreciate nature than those who try to fathom it."

"Thank you Meghan. You are right, this poem was written by Emily Dickinson in the 19th century. However, another draft of this poem was discovered which suggests that in fact the personification of nature was used because Emily wrote the poem with a specific person in mind. This version used the altered line "But Susan is a stranger yet" instead.

Upon hearing those words, a penny seemed to drop. Not just in my mind but amongst many in the class.

"So this Dickinson chick is gay?" came Lindsey's voice from the back of the room.

I rolled my eyes. Typical Lindsey, subtle as ever.

"There is no concrete evidence but a large collection of intimate correspondence was found between Emily and Susan. So with that in mind, can anyone else offer us any further insight into this poem?"

As though my body was not my own, I found my own hand slowly quivering into the air. What the hell was I doing?!

"Lovely, Sian, what are your thoughts?"

Oh crap! Miss Knight's confidence really was contagious. I must be crazy for doing this. Nobody cares what I think about the poem. I've probably completely missed the point anyway. I have a habit of doing that.

"Umm, well -" I'd lost the ability to formulate sentences, like I always do under pressure. "When Emily speaks about her alienation from nature, I think she is again referring to Susan, whom given the content of the poem, she clearly admires a great deal. The appreciative descriptions are finely detailed which suggests she feels very close to Susan but she still does not feel like she belongs in her world. This may be due to the fact that male homosexuality was illegal during the Victorian era, and female homosexuality, simply unheard of. Emily feels that the more she starts to understand Susan, the more questions, and ultimately problems she is faced with which drives them further apart."