Emily D!

[sunnylane]

I am trying to analyze a poem for a class I'm taking but am having a difficult time with it. The poem is "I Like to See it Lap the Miles" by Emily Dickinson. It reads as follows:

I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop tp feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious, step

Around a pile of mountains,
And, supercilious, peer
In shanties by the sides of the roads;
And then a quarry pare

To fit its sides, and crawl between,
Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down hill

And neigh like Boanerges;
Then, punctual as a star,
Stop- docile and omnipotent-
At its own stable door.

I think I know what this poem is about, but am not sure and don't want to embarrass myself if I'm way off. I don't understand the third stanza at all. Can someone help me interpret this? Also, who or what is Boarnerges? Is there an easy way to pronounce this? Thanks for any help I receive!!!! I truly appreciate it in advance.......

[mono]

Hello, sunnylane, welcome to the forum. :)
Emily Dickinson I can forever call one of my favorite poets, but I must agree that some of her work reads quite dense and with difficulty, the reason seeming because she probably intended no one to read her poetry.
Firstly, Boanerges refers to the son of thunder, a name given to James and John, the apostles, by Jesus. At a guess, I would pronounce it as it appears: "bow-an-err-jes."
Though Dickinson gave no titles to her poems, many scholars have sub-titled this work as "The Railway Train," which may give many subtle hints as to Dickinson's use of metaphor in this work.
In the first stanza, she gives perfect examples of personification, or giving human-like qualities to inanimate objects (in this case, a train), such as when she writes "lick the valleys up" or "feeds itself at tanks," and the thought of it "stepping" around piles of mountains. Throughout the poem, she continues using human adjectives, like "peering in shanties," "crawling between, complaining all the while," and "chasing itself." The major form of transport during her day, however, consisted of using horses, which may explain the reference to horses in the first line of the last stanza, describing the train as neighing.
The meaning of the poem seems quite simple, after the reader understands the poetess' immense use of metaphor; Dickinson describes a train, while never using the actual word train, nor locomotive, caboose, boxcar, etc. Living just before the Industrial Revolution, I imagine the great use of machines, engines, and technology of that time inspired, intrigued, and absolutely fascinated everyone, and obviously Emily Dickinson.
Notice the last three lines:

Then, punctual as a star,
Stop- docile and omnipotent-
At its own stable door.
Out of the whole poem, I think these last lines devote the most impact. Since we, in the post-Industrial era, during the Technological Revolution, may not have the ability to see such power and fascination in objects like trains, adjectives like "docile" and "omnipotent" wonderfully describe the amazement of people during Dickinson's era, making trains seem like something living, all-powerful, yet, surpisingly, made by humans.
I hope this has helped some, and I wish you luck, sunnylane. Hopefully we can see you more on the forum. ;)

[Mark F.]

I remember having to analyse this poem a couple of years ago, and also came up with pretty much the same ideas. I think she's comparing the train to an animal (a horse? the stable door). Sort of a metaphore for industrialisation.