Emily Dickinson's Poem 579

Nineteenth century poet, Emily Dickinson ponders in poem 579 of the initial reaction towards something new and how obtaining wealth for the first time means she has to give up something in return. However, she would not be able to use her newfound wealth because of her inability to handle it. Poem 579 explains what happens when a person discovers something completely new and how the narrator handles new experiences. Going through a new experience is what happens to the poet’s diminishing eyesight that forces her to stay home so she gradually gets use to the fact she cannot go outside
Near the end of stanza one, the poet explains about approaching the new and unknown “I had been hungry, all the years-/ my Noon had Come-to dine-/ I trembling
drew the Table near-/ And touched the Curious Wine-“. Words “hungry” “dine” and trembling” help creates a strong image of a person who haven’t gotten enough and is trembling to put energy into their actions. However, she only touches the wine which signifies that she is unsure and hesitant about the new and unknown to her. She turns away from the new wealth “When turning, hungry, Home/ I looked in the Windows, for the Wealth/ I could not hope- for mine-“. Why the poet says “could not hope- for mine-“is that she wants the wealth, but decides not to since the poet thinks that she cannot handle the wealth.
In poem 579, stanza 3 and 4 tells what happens when she tries attaining new wealth which is unknown to her. “I did not know the ample Bread-‘Twas so unlike the Crumb/… The Plenty hurt me – ‘twas so new-/ Myself felt ill- and odd-“. When she does try the new wealth, she experiences something different which she hasn’t known before, but because of this she feels discomfort and strange. This show she feels fear and anxious of her diminishing sight that prevents her from leaving her home. Moreover, because she feels strong negative emotions about losing her sight, Emily could not handle the situation for a while.
She understands to experience something different she would have to give something else away, which for Emily was her sight. “Nor was I hungry-so I found/ That Hunger- was the way/ Of Persons Outside Windows-/ The Entering- takes away-“. Losing something to gain another is what the quote meant and there were many examples in Emily’s life that support this quote. A strong example was her eyesight forcing her to stay home and made her perceive the world differently than before. Another was losing people she cared which made her depressed and gloomy, but helped her with deeper understanding of death. So because of many situations and events in her life it helped to influence the poems to have a connection to her life.
The poem 579 has the idea of discovering something new and what happens during the discovery then what happens after experiencing the new and unknown. When discovering new experiences it isn’t always bad because you what you gain will make up for what is lost or add on to other experiences. Therefore, discovering new things help add on to current experiences and will cause new ideas or paths that lead to more unknown experiences. However, while finding something new might seem interesting it is better to know the limit. Able to handle the newfound wealth is important otherwise the wealth will be useless and be the same to having none of the wealth. If the wealth is not cannot be handled then the reaction toward it will be strongly negative.