Judith Weissman argues that Dickinson’s love poetry is characterized by a "long poetic tradition that associates flowers with women’s genitals" which are frequently visited by male bees (410). Moreover, Suzanne Juhasz claims that in the poems which the bee is used as a sexual symbol, the sexual act with its pleasure is shown to destroy individuality and the power of the self (105). Juhasz equally implies that sexual encounters in Dickinson’s poems are acts of exploitation of the female by the male. I do not agree with Juhasz because her view contradicts with the text of Dickinson’s flower/bee poems. In poem 1339 "A Bee his burnished Carriage", Dickinson reveals her liberal view of male-female sexual relationship. The female figure in the
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Poem 96 "Sexton My Master’s Sleeping Here" is interpreted by critics as a little allegory on the coming of spring. However, the poem is a love poem full of eroticism. The word "Master" and "Daisies" are used to indicate a male-female sexual relationship. This view is supported by letters 233 and 248 which contain the words "Master" and "Daisy". These letters are written in erotic language which reveals the sexual intensity of the poet’s passion. The letters are addressed to the poet's beloved and they carry obvious sexual implications which show no phallic fear of the masculine. In letter 233 Dickinson says: "If it had been God’s will that I might breathe where you breathed-and find the place-myself-at night-If I (can) never forget that I am not with you ---" (160). In letter 248, Dickinson thinks of herself as a "Daisy" bending her "smaller life to that of her Master. Dickinson finally uses the home image in poem 190 "He was weak and I was strong-then" to indicate a love meeting between a male and female. The poem carries erotic implications aroused by the home image. The meeting, however, does not lead to the consummation of the lovers' passions. It ends with the lover accompanying the poet to the doors of her nearby house. The separation of the lovers happens peacefully without any fears on the part of the
Poem 96 "Sexton My Master’s Sleeping Here" is interpreted by critics as a little allegory on the coming of spring. However, the poem is a love poem full of eroticism. The word "Master" and "Daisies" are used to indicate a male-female sexual relationship. This view is supported by letters 233 and 248 which contain the words "Master" and "Daisy". These letters are written in erotic language which reveals the sexual intensity of the poet’s passion. The letters are addressed to the poet's beloved and they carry obvious sexual implications which show no phallic fear of the masculine. In letter 233 Dickinson says: "If it had been God’s will that I might breathe where you breathed-and find the place-myself-at night-If I (can) never forget that I am not with you ---" (160). In letter 248, Dickinson thinks of herself as a "Daisy" bending her "smaller life to that of her Master. Dickinson finally uses the home image in poem 190 "He was weak and I was strong-then" to indicate a love meeting between a male and female. The poem carries erotic implications aroused by the home image. The meeting, however, does not lead to the consummation of the lovers' passions. It ends with the lover accompanying the poet to the doors of her nearby house. The separation of the lovers happens peacefully without any fears on the part of the