Dickinson's I cannot dance upon my Toes
A Self-Styled Ecstasy
Dickinson’s “I cannot dance upon my Toes” consists of five stanzas, with her usual rhythms and slant rimes. Her speaker is celebrating and boasting about experiences of “Glee” that many would associate with great performers of dance and opera. Although she does not display her joy in public performance, she possesses such a great ecstatic bliss that she feels is equal to or, more likely, greater than the public displays.
First Quatrain: “I cannot dance upon my Toes”
The speaker states that she cannot dance as a ballerina does, because she has taken no lessons. Still, there are times that she feels a great joy in her soul, a joy that she deems may be likened to that expressed through ballet. After all, to dance upon the toes demonstrates physical prowess that few possess. The rarity of beauty that the ballet expresses causes this speaker to sense that such an artistic performance surely gives the artist “[a] Glee.”
Second Quatrain: “That had I Ballet knowledge”
The speaker then asserts that if she actually had the ability to perform ballet, her special “Glee” would be sufficient to allow her to outshine even that of the best ballet artist. The Prima Ballerina would be put to shame and therefore become “mad.” The entire ballet “Troupe” would be diminished by her skill.
Third Quatrain: “And though I had no Gown of Gauze”
In the third quatrain, the speaker reveals that she, of course, has “no Gown of Gauze.” She does not dress in fancy duds like the stage performers, nor does she have her hair all gussied up, “No Ringlet, to my Hair.” And naturally, since she is not a ballet dancer and does not know the art, she has never “hopped to Audiences—like Birds, / One Claw upon the Air.”
She becomes a bit supercilious here comparing the ballerinas to birds hopping, and offers the fascinating image of the ballerina’s upturned hand as it resembles a bird with “One Claw upon the Air.”
Fourth Quatrain: “Nor tossed my shape in Eider Balls”
The speaker then throws out some further images of things she has not done and never will do. She has never “tossed [her] shape in Eider Balls”; instead of the fancy, frilly outfits that ballerinas and opera sings wear, she dresses quite simply. She has never finished a performance by dancing out of sight and then been brought back by the adoring audience that continues its applause until she returns for an “encore.”
Fifth Quatrain: “Nor any know I know the Art“
The speaker is so far from being a ballet performer on a stage that she doubts that anyone with whom she is acquainted is even aware that she knows about those types of “Art.” And even though she is never announced on any “Placard” as famous performers are, she insists that her art fills her life and renders it “full as Opera.”
Emily Dickinson
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