Women on the Fringe: Representations of Depression in Lorde and Emily Dickinson

"Supercut"

In “Wild nights – Wild nights!” (numbered 269), one of her most controversial poems (at the time of publication), Emily Dickinson expresses her passion for an unnamed lover but also exposes her extreme loneliness and longing for security. In the first stanza, Dickinson sets up the paradox of a raging storm with a feeling of safety, exclaiming that even the most tempestuous nights would be a luxury (line 4) if she were with her lover. In the following two stanzas, she introduces the metaphor of the wild sea as a symbol for the emotional turbulence of her life as a single woman, claiming that her lover provides her with security – “a Heart in port” (6) – that can withstand any storm and would make her efforts to navigate her emotional instability with a “Compass” (8) and “Chart” (9) unnecessary. The last lines, a desperate call to be with her lover, heighten Dickinson’s longing, her exasperation, and her intense loneliness that contribute to her mental anguish.

In “Supercut,” Lorde also longs for her former lover, remembering all the good memories with him as a supercut – a montage – playing repeatedly in her mind. Just as Dickinson wishes to be with her lover, Lorde struggles with the pain of loneliness, calling her lover to “come home to [her] heart” and exclaiming that when she reaches for him, “there’s just a supercut,” nothing but a memory that cannot cure her aching heart. However, while Dickinson does not elaborate on why she must spend her stormy night alone, Lorde blames herself. Wishing she could rewrite the past – repeatedly remarking that in her head she does everything right and that she would “forgive and not fight” if given a second chance – Lorde further exposing the extent of her depression in feeling not only this intense yearning, solitude, and emptiness, but also regret.
 

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