Emily Dickinson's Poems on Faith

Thesis: Emily Dickinson offers two approaches to the idea of faith in her poems “I never saw a Moor” and “‘Faith’ is a fine invention”.

Both poems discuss religious faith and support it in different ways.

• In “I never saw a Moor”, the speaker says that she is “certain” of the existence of God and Heaven even though she has never seen them, just as she is certain of the existence of the sea (7).  The speaker of this poem proclaims her faith, defining it as the knowledge of the existence of God without physical evidence.

• “‘Faith’ is a fine invention” acknowledges that “‘Faith’ is a fine invention / When Gentlemen can see” (1-2).  The italicized “see” contrasts with the italicized word “Microscopes” in line 3; microscopes are made for a specific type of focused sight, while simply “seeing” is more generic.  The speaker of the second poem acknowledges that faith provides a good outlook on life, even if it is not always useful for when Gentlemen must do, that is, do more than merely see.

While both speakers acknowledge that faith can be good, the speaker of “‘Faith’ is a fine invention” acknowledges that faith is not perfect.

• The speaker of the latter focuses on the uses of faith and concrete reality rather than the beauty of them.  She adds at the end of the poem that “Microscopes are prudent / In an Emergency” (3-4).  While faith and religion feed the spirituality of humanity, something else must look after the physical world.  When the concrete world is in need of attention or help, Microscopes, which represent study, focus, and purpose, can prove to be extremely useful.  Both religion and science are essential to humanity, but for different reasons and different situations.

• The speaker of “I never saw a Moor” speaks highly of her own faith, using the analogies of a Moor and the Sea to describe her certainty of the existence of God.  However, the speaker of this poem does not address faith in general as the other one does.

These poems offer different but not conflicting viewpoints.

• “‘Faith’ is a fine invention” suggests that faith is good but not perfect because it can be practiced but not utilized.  She speaks of faith objectively in the third person.

• “I never saw a Moor” testifies of the beauty and completeness that faith can have, but does not discuss faith objectively.  Instead, she provides a personal, first person testimony of her own faith, stating simply that she is faithful.

• The two poems do not disagree over faith; they simply discuss it in different ways.  Therefore, the poems can complement each other rather than conflicting with one another.