God and Victory

In Katherine A. Monteiro's piece on Emily Dickinson's poem "Victory comes late," she writes, "The narrator definitely mourns, not for something held and lost, but for something desired, yet ultimately beyond grasp" (30-31).  When I read the poem, I did not see this so much as a testament to lost or lacking love or desire, I saw it as a summation of lessons that God wants us to learn.  When Dickinson writes "Victory come late,"  I saw this as a sign that the person in the poem learned to be good according to God's laws too late to save his or her soul.  Dickinson writes, "His table's spread too high for us/ Unless we dine on tip-toe."  I think this means that God has such high standards for people that sometimes people cannot meet the standards and they fail to find "Victory," meaning they are unable to go to heaven.  When she writes, "God keeps his oath to sparrows,/ Who of little love/ Know how to starve!" I think she is referring to the message the Bible promotes that those who are poor and hungry on earth will be rich and well fed in heaven. 

Although this was my first thought and can be supported by the text, Monteiro's ideas can also be supported.  She believes that, "Dickinson shows her vision of the tragedy of war and the revivalist religion, which she found unsatisfying" (Monteiro 31).  Monteiro actually cites some of Dickinson's letters in order to validate her point, which is very plausible. 

Furthermore, some of the other blogs, specifically Tiffany's, said that the narrator is speaking of a desire she has that cannot be fulfilled no matter how hard she tries.  I believe that any of these ideas can be supported by the text, which simply shows how versatile Dickinson's writing is: she is able to invoke many thoughts and ideas in many different audiences. 

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