709
Publication—is the Auction
Of the Mind of Man
Poverty—be justifying
For so foul a thing
Possibly—but We—would rather
From Our Garret go
White—Unto the White Creator
Than invest—Our Snow
Thought belong to Him who gave it
Then—to Him Who bear
Its Corporeal illustration—Sell
The Royal Air
In the first few stanzas, Dickinson seems to scold those who publish their works of literature. In this line, she seems to say this is wrong because god, “him who gave it”, has planted ideas in our heads, therefore we owe our intelligence to him and him only. To publish these works would seem to take credit for the work of god. To keep works unpublished is to thank pay thanks to our creator. With this in mind, however, it brings up the question of why Dickinson had her works published if she seemed so bent against it. From doing some research, I read that nothing was published in her lifetime, however, if this poem was read by others, why would they choose to publish her works? This seems to go against what she believed in and rent strongly about when she was living, and to publish them seems to go against her final wish. 

Publication—is the Auction