Herb,

Could you accept that form and content are so intertwined that neither one nor 
the other is a "driving force" by itself? It seems to me that they both drive 
each other. I really have a hard time separating meter from meaning (or vice 
versa) here.

Paul
 "If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable 
fiction" (_Twelfth Night_ 3.4.127-128). 





________________________________
From: "STAHLKE, HERBERT F" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, September 7, 2011 12:08:02 AM
Subject: Re: Poetry grammar question: Dickinson


Scott,
 
I’m going back to the complete poem, as below:
 
   Much Madness is divinest Sense — 
   To a discerning Eye — 
   Much Sense — the starkest Madness — 
   ’Tis the Majority 
   In this, as All, prevail — 
   Assent — and you are sane — 
   Demur — you’re straightway dangerous — 
   And handled with a Chain — 
 
“Much Madness” and “much sense” are both ambiguous, between “a lot of the 
madness/sense we observe” and “a high degree of madness/sense.”  I think both 
readings work, and I rather like the ambiguity.  The dashes add important 
grammatical information that your quotation left out, namely the parenthetical 
nature of “to a discerning eye” and the ellipsis of “is” in the third line.  As 
to the use of the article, I think Dickinson is playing with generic vs. 
specific meanings.  I suspect meaning rather than meter is the driving force in 
her choice, although I can’t speak with any authority about how the mind of a 
poetic genius works.
 
Herb
From:Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar 
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Scott Woods
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2011 2:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Poetry grammar question: Dickinson
 
Dear List,

Consider these lines from Dickinson: Much madness is divinest sense/ To a 
discerning eye;/ Much sense the starkest madness.
Why is there no "the" in front of "divinest sense" and why is there a "the" in 
front of "starkest madness"? It sounds wrong to my ear to say "Much madness is 
the divinest sense," and it sounds off to say "much sense starkest madness," but 
I don't know why this is. What is the rule I'm missing? 


Thanks,

Scott Woods
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