Belshazzar had a Letter —
He never had but one —
Belshazzar's Correspondent
Concluded and begun
In that immortal Copy
The Conscience of us all
Can read without its Glasses
On Revelation's Wall —
-Emily Dickinson
I've been thinking about this poem a lot lately. It helps to know the writing on the wall she refers to is in the Book Of Daniel:
And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE (literally a "monetary toll"), God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL (literally a "tokenary weight"), you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; PARSIN (literally a "division" or "portion"), your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians
1 comment:
Wow, that's a great poem...I haven't seen it before. "Correspondant" is a fascinating word coming from Dickinson, since she communicated largely through correspondance. Who or what is Belshazzar's correspondant--the finger of the LORD writing the "copy"? a correspondant as in a match or a "copy" of himself? we as readers who have a correspondant "letter" inscribed in our own consciences? Lots to unravel.
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