"Faith" is a fine invention

The 19th-century American poet Emily Dickinson is the author of “‘Faith’ is a fine invention.” A central figure in American literature, Dickinson wrote around 1,800 poems. Adverse to publicity, Dickinson only published around 10 poems during her life. The publication of the remainder of her poems occurred after she died. “‘Faith’ is a fine invention” is one of her many posthumously published poems. Like most of her poems, it didn’t come with a date or a title. Due to the lack of titles, Dickinson scholars use numbers and the poem’s first line to identify them. “‘Faith’ is a fine invention” is the poem’s first line. One authoritative Dickinson editor, Thomas Johnson, assigned it number 185. A later Dickinson editor, Ralph W. Franklin, assigned it number 202. Scholars believe she wrote the poem around 1860. The poem is a lyric and, since its message is not entirely straightforward, something of a puzzle. Dickinson’s humor, unique syntax, and ideas about humanity shape the poem, which centers on the tension between two methods of viewing the world. The poem has become one of her better-known poems, although it might not be as famous as poems like “Because I could not stop for Death” (ca 1863) or “My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun” (ca 1863).

Poet Biography

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. She had an older brother, Austin, and a younger sister, Lavinia or “Vinnie.” Samuel Fowler Dickinson was her grandpa and, according to Cynthia Wolff’s biography Dickinson (Alfred A. Knopf, 1986), Dickinson’s grandpa built Amherst’s first brick house. He was also a prominent lawyer and politician who helped found Amherst Academy and Amherst College. Samuel’s son and Dickinson’s father, Edward, was the treasurer of Amherst College from 1835-1837. Edward was also a successful lawyer and politician. Dickinson’s mom, Emily Norcross, was a homemaker who came from a thriving family of farmers.

Dickinson attended two prestigious schools, Amherst Academy and the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. As an adolescent and young woman, Dickinson maintained an active social life. She liked parties, sleigh rides, exploring nature, and entertained a few romantic interests. In Martha Ackerman’s biography about Dickinson, These Fevered Days (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020), Ackerman quotes a letter from Dickinson playfully appraising her appearance. Writing to a friend, Dickinson says, “I am growing handsome very fast indeed [and] expect I shall be the Belle of Amherst when I reach my 17th year.”

After returning from the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, Dickinson became less social. She lived with her parents and didn’t like meeting people face to face. Dickinson’s ostensible isolation has produced a variety of rumors and portrayals. Ackerman contests the depiction of Dickinson as an “eccentric spinster who locked herself away from the world.” Through letters, Dickinson stayed closely connected with the world. She had a robust correspondence with Josiah Holland and Samuel Bowels—editors of The Springfield Republican, the largest newspaper in New England at the time. She also exchanged many letters with Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who published in The Atlantic Monthly, and, during the Civil War, led a regiment of Black Union soldiers.

Dickinson also shared a deep connection with her sister-in-law (Austin’s wife) Susan Gilbert, and their close bond has led to speculation about Dickinson’s sexual orientation. The film Wild Nights with Emily (2018), the TV show Dickinson (2019-2021), and Paul Legault’s English-to-English translations of Dickinson’s poems, The Emily Dickinson Reader (McSweeney’s, 2012), present the relationship as explicitly sexual.

Dickinson never married and, because of her family’s financial situation, she never had to work. Besides writing letters, she wrote around 1,800 poems. She wrote them on envelopes, bills, and scraps of paper. The poems are hard to read and possess neither titles nor dates. She sent some of them to Higginson, who was lukewarm about the style and syntax. To organize them, Dickinson copied several of her poems into homemade books. After Dickinson died in 1886, Vinnie discovered a locked box of Dickinson’s work. Susan declined to help Vinnie publish the poems. Mabel Loomis Todd—a writer, artist, and scholar who had an extended affair with Austin—eventually transcribed and edited over 600 Dickinson poems.

Like many other editors, Todd tried to make Dickinson’s poems more accessible. She replaced Dickinson’s jarring dashes with commas and standardized her capitalization. A thorough and accurate publication of Dickson’s work would have to wait until 1955. Thomas Johnson edited this compendium. He numbered Dickinson’s poems based on the order in which he believed she wrote them. He assigned the poem “‘Faith’ is a fine invention” number 185. Decades later, Ralph W. Franklin published what many believe to be the most authoritative version of Dickinson’s poems. He assigned “‘Faith’ is a fine invention” number 202.

Poem Text

“Faith” is a fine invention

For Gentlemen who see!

But Microscopes are prudent

In an Emergency!

Dickinson, Emily. “‘Faith’ is a fine invention.” 1860. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

Emily Dickinson’s short, two-sentence poem is about religion, humans, perception, and, in a sense, technology. In Line 1, the speaker declares, “‘Faith’ is a fine invention,” which makes spirituality seem like a technological product. Someone invented faith, similar to how someone invented light bulbs or smartphones. Faith is not something that occurred naturally; people, or a person, made it. In Line 2, the speaker finishes the first sentence by adding, “[f]or Gentlemen who see!” If a man or person already has sharp perceptions—if they can clearly “see” and assess the world on their own—faith works out well for them.

Lines 3 and 4 contain the second sentence in the poem and feature a disclaimer: “But Microscopes are prudent[,]” begins the speaker (Line 3). As with faith, microscopes are quality instruments, and they especially come in handy “[i]n an Emergency!” (Line 4). If a person is in a tight spot, they might want to choose the microscope over faith or, in other words, concrete and scientific evidence over intangible, spiritual visions.