Meaning of "We make the wise distinction still, soever made in vain" in a poem by Dickinson?

Question

[A poem](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/We_send_the_Wave_to_find_the_Wave_%E2%80%94) by Emily Dickinson: > We send the Wave to find the Wave— An Errand so divine, The Messenger enamored too, Forgetting to return, **We make the wise distinction still**, Soever made in vain, The sagest time to dam the sea is when the sea is gone— What is the meaning of "We make the wise distinction still"? What is "distinction" here? I can't grasp the basic meaning - I don't need a complex interpretation, just the basic meaning. Basically, I understand it thus: - We send the wave to find the wave. Okay, "we make a wave and we are sitting and waiting till it hits another wave and returns". - An errand so divine. Okay, let it be divine. Maybe by "wave" the author means some spiritual effort, an effort to understand some other person. Hence, a divine errand. It's hazy, but I get the general feeling. - The messenger enamored too. The wave is enamored? It's getting hazier. The wave fell in love with another wave (another person?). - Forgetting to return. It fell in love and forgot to return. Okay. - We make the wise distinction still. What? Here I crush into a concrete wall. I don't understand this line at all. We sent our wave, it fell in love and forgot to return. But what is "distinction" and how does one "make a distinction"? - Soever made in vain. I understand that this relates to "distinction" but that does not help my understanding. "This distinction is always made in vain; there is always no use of this distinction" - but what is "distinction"? Distinguishing two waves between each other? But we did not see our target wave, and the wave we sent got lost. - The sagest time to dam the sea is when the sea is gone — Apparently the sea consisted of only two waves. And now that our wave got lost and the first wave was not even seen by us, the sea is gone and we can put a dam on the dry surface. Maybe there is a plain English explanation of this poem somewhere. I googled but found literary criticism, which does not help. I need at least to grasp the basic meaning.

Answer 1

Dickinson's poetry is a strong reflection of her personal thoughts and beliefs. Her poem "We send the wave to find the wave" seems to be symbolizing the idea that life is very back and forth. Like how waves go up and down, so do our lives; it is influenced by cause and effect.

"We make the wise distinction still, soever made in vain" contains contradictory words. "Wise distinction" and "in vain" are opposites. One is referring to a good choice that should result in a good outcome but "in vain" means that at the end of the day, it is pointless.

To relate that to the overriding symbol of the poem about life as waves, this line is telling me that while we can make unique and informed decisions in our lives, at the end of it all, it is all futile. Life is a journey and it is not about the outcome because at the end, we are all meant to die no matter what we do.

Dickinson's poetry is not meant to be interpreted literally, rather it should encourage you to find your own meaning using her words. There's no wrong answer.

Answer 2

Emily Dickinson is speaking of love in a manner of having a true grounded relationship. True and pure love does not happen by chance but it requires hard labor as well as invested time. Those two key factors are the mode of transportation that drives love to the next level. Each relationship has up's and down's it how you weather the storm that makes the difference.

Answer 3

Poetry is so personal, and thus so subjective, that it can be confusing to others outside of the author herself. But, here's my take on this passage (I'm adding it below for reference).

The poem is about falling in love, and then out of love. In starting a relationship one flirts (send a wave) and, hopefully, get a flirt in return (find a wave). There's a thrill to these first exchanges, especially when it's human nature to showcase one's best selves when trying to attract a partner (an errand so divine). Our imagination plays a huge part in this, too, by fantasizing being with the other person, holding hands, kissing, you get the point - and our imagination is "the Messenger" and it gets carried away (the messenger enamored too). But sometimes, when the honeymoon period is over, one may continue to put the other person in a pedestal, idealizing them (forgetting to return). But even though one's mind wants to continue to idealize that person, one makes the realization that this person may not so be great after all (we make the wise distinction still) - a distinction between reality and our fantasies. Then the author laments, a bit jadedly, that the wisdom didn't really count (soever made in vain) because the bitter nature of the relationship/person was so obvious now that love is gone (The sagest time to dam the sea is when the sea is gone).

We send the Wave to find the Wave—

An Errand so divine,

The Messenger enamored too,

Forgetting to return,

We make the wise distinction still,

Soever made in vain,

The sagest time to dam the sea is when the sea is gone—