Åãî äî âñòðå÷ èñêàëà ÿ
â íåÿñíîé ñìóòå-ìãëå,
îòâåÿ â ïëåâåë âñÿêèé äàð
çà ïðåäâåù¸ííûé õëåá,-
èíûì íà âêóñ è ñìåõ è ãðåõ,-
õîòü çíàþ ÿ íóòðîì -
òî, ÷òî îñâÿùåíî, âçðîñëî á
åäèíñòâåííûì çåðíîì...
(Ýìèëè - î ñóäüå Îòèñå Ëîðäå, âûäåðæèâàÿ
ãëóìëåíèå Ñüþ è Ýááè Ôàðëè, ïëåìÿííèöû Ëîðäà,
íàä å¸, Ýìèëè, è åãî, Îòèñà, äðóæáîé.)
[David Preest:
This poem may describe Emily’s relationship with
Judge Otis Lord. Before she met him, she felt a need
for some nameless person like him. After she met him,
the presence of the ‘foreshadowed Food’ made ‘other
bounty sudden chaff.’ Others might sneer at their relationship,
but Emily thinks that if ‘consecrated’ in marriage,
it could be ‘the only Food that grows.’
Richard Sewall reports that both Sue and Abbie Farley,
Lord’s niece, did pour scorn on the relationship
of Emily and Judge Lord. Abbie thought the friendship
‘disgusting’ and said of Emily, ‘a little hussy…loose morals.
She was crazy about men,’ and Sue warned Mabel Loomis Todd
away from the ‘immorality’ of the Homestead where she had
found Emily ‘in the arms of a man.’]
*******************************************
I groped for him before I knew by Emily Dickinson
I groped for him before I knew
With solemn nameless need
All other bounty sudden chaff
For this foreshadowed Food
Which others taste and spurn and sneer --
Though I within suppose
That consecrated it could be
The only Food that grows