- Emily Dickinson - Wikimedia Commons
First Stanza: “Nature — the Gentlest Mother is”
The speaker in Emily Dickinson’s “ Nature -- the Gentlest Mother is ” (#790 in Thomas H. Johnson's The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson) attributes to Mother Nature the quality of “Gentlest Mother” and also informs her listener that this gentlest of mothers is infinitely patient with her children, cautioning even the “feeblest” and the “waywardest” in a “mild” manner.
Second Stanza: “In Forest — and the Hill —”
As human travelers pass through forests or ride by hillsides, they may hear this gentle Mother “Restraining Rampant Squirrel,” or quieting a “too impetuous Bird.” The speaker defines natural behavior of the animals in terms of the disciplining methods employed by the “Gentlest Mother.” The speaker intuits from the animals’ behavior the tenderness with which this natural Mother guides and guards her children.
Third Stanza: “How fair Her Conversation —”
The speaker reports that the Mother’s “Conversation” is utterly “fair.” Relating to the beautiful, peaceful occasion of “a Summer Afternoon,” the speaker proclaims the measured ways in which the Mother keeps “Her Household,” as she brings together all aspects of her being, or “Her Assembly.”
The speaker begins her next thought in the third stanza yet leaves its completion for the next stanza. This break in thought allows the action of the line, “And when the Sun go down,” to complete itself, before moving on to the next part of the idea.
Fourth Stanza: “Her Voice among the Aisles”
The speaker situates the gentle Mother “among the Aisles” where the Mother elicits from the parishioners “the timid prayer.” An earlier Dickinsonian speaker has established that her church was one that included the natural creatures who lived around her cloister-like home: “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.”
Thus, in this stanza, her speaker reports that the gentle Mother can be found bringing forth prayer from “the minutest Cricket” and “The most unworthy Flower.” Of course, the notion of “unworthy” does not apply to this gentle Mother who accepts all prayer with equal justice and equanimity.
Fifth Stanza: “When all the Children sleep —”
Moving to the end of the day, “when all the Children sleep,” the Mother quietly withdraws to “light Her lamps,” which would be the moon and stars, of course. Again, the speaker begins a thought, this time her final thought, in the fifth stanza but waits to finish it in the final stanza. The thought begins, “Then bending from the Sky,”—the Mother has traveled far to light her night lamps, and now she must bend back to her children.
Sixth Stanza: “With infinite Affection —”
And “with infinite Affection / And infiniter Care,” the Mother raises her “Golden finger” to her lips and makes the sign that calls for “silence” as the night enfolds her children “Everywhere” allowing them to slumber peacefully in the stillness she bestows on them.
Linda Sue Grimes - As a writer, researcher, and SRF devotee, Linda Sue Grimes has studied poetry and practiced Kriya Yoga for over thirty years..
