

The Blue Jay : : By Emily Dickinson
The Blue Jay
No brigadier throughout the year 1
So civic as the jay. 2
A neighbor and a warrior too, 3
With shrill felicity 4
Pursuing winds that censure us 5
A February day, 6
The brother of the universe 7
Was never blown away. 8
The snow and he are intimate; 9
I ‘ve often seen them play 10
When heaven looked upon us all 11
With such severity, 12
I felt apology were due 13
To an insulted sky, 14
Whose pompous frown was nutriment 15
To their temerity. 16
The pillow of this daring head 17
Is pungent evergreens; 18
His larder — terse and militant — 19
Unknown, refreshing things; 20
His character a tonic, 21
His future a dispute; 22
Unfair an immortality 23
That leaves this neighbor out. 24
— Emily Dickinson
“The Blue Jay”, A 24 lines , Bird Poem By Emily Dickinson is About description of The Blue Jay as A “daring Warrior” ( lines 17 To 24 ) : The Bird Watching / bonding with Emily Dickinson happened for 222 times referred mentions in Emily Dickinson’s Bird Poems / Nature Poems out of her nearly 1800 Poems published after her death as noted by some analysts ( Schumann and Hodgman ) who has enlisted 26 different birds , favourite among her references ( in poetic instances described by her during seasonal coming / going / migration of The Birds ( in the New England’s Massachusetts area of her living ) which included American Robins, Blackbirds, Sparrows , and Jays. : : : :
1 ) lines 1 To 5 : : “No brigadier throughout the year 1
So civic as the jay. 2
A neighbor and a warrior too, 3
With shrill felicity 4
Pursuing winds that censure us 5″ : : : : : : : : : : About The Blue Jay as the most “civic” brigadier in service throughout the year. Thus , Blue Jay is the most naturalized member civically, like the most familiar citizen of the community The Poet Speaker is proud of ; found as not only a “neighbour” seen always nearby or adjacent to her locale, but also as attending “warrior- like” 🪖 too ( lines 3 ) This is not only in ” felicity”( line 4 ), that is colourful appearance, manners and style which is always pleasurable but also “With shrill” ( line 4 ) that is, unpleasantly loud ‘shrill cry’ insistant of being heard. With the aforesaid presence Brigadier Blue Jay is “pursuing winds that censure us.” ( line 5 ) ; Meaning, The Brigadier Jay is “pursuing”following an order overtaking “winds”around the life of the civilians ( as explained in line 5 ) with which The Poet Speaker feels like being pinned down by approving or disapproving watch ( also by criticism and reprimand that will go in ‘nature’s record‘) : : The word “bluejay” is a phrase and not a single word. The word ‘jay’ is derived from the old French word ‘gai’ and the Latin word ‘gaius’, which means a harsh echo of a bird that is similar to a “censure” or ‘warning cry.’ : : “The blue jay” also represents confidence because it is believed that they are guardian angels who give them courage and engage them as protector guard and as messanger of guidance. : : : :
2 ) lines 6 To 16 : : ” A February day, 6
The brother of the universe 7
Was never blown away. 8
The snow and he are intimate; 9
I ‘ve often seen them play 10
When heaven looked upon us all 11
With such severity, 12
I felt apology were due 13
To an insulted sky, 14
Whose pompous frown was nutriment 15
To their temerity. 16 ” : : : :
About “A February day” ( line 6 ) , which is a beginning of Springtime of Summer season and ending with Snowy Winter. Emily describes The Bird’s Behaviour as she has watched , so also “The Blue Jay” in usual way in American poetry personifying and naming the subjects with affectionate relations of human family hereby as ” The brother of the universe 7″ ( line 7 ) as also described earlier as ” neighbour” ( ln line 3 ) and “Was never blown away” ( line 8 ) , Meaning, ‘ was never carried away’ : She has often seen this brother playing with his intimate ,”The snow “❄️🌨️ ( lines 9 & 10 ) in Winter. : : : :
She believes that”When the heaven instead of being considerate in thinking 🤔 of ( the rights , feelings and needs ) of living beings / had treated them “With such severity,”( line 12 ) of hard look ( shown off by snowy weather of Winter ( that was changed from the springtime started from February’s springtime 🌼 🌱 and friendly Autumn 🍂🍁 ) thereafter./ She felt like regretting with “apology ” which were due” ( line 13 ) ( on year- ending time of Winter scheduled from the “February day” onwards ) / “To an insulted sky.” ( line 14 ) who was dissed by the harsh echoing ( of unpleasant shrill !! of the daring Blue Jay ! ) : : The “Pompous frown”, that is, the displeasure displayed by the sky’s expression in disapproving look was “nutriment” ( line 15 ) / was ‘nutritive support’ / “To their temerity” ( line 16 ) / To the fearless daring that has become a characteristic of The Blue Jays” : : : :
3 ) lines 17 To 24 : : “The pillow of this daring head 17
Is pungent evergreens; 18
His larder — terse and militant — 19
Unknown, refreshing things; 20
His character a tonic, 21
His future a dispute; 22
Unfair an immortality 23
That leaves this neighbor out. 24 ” : : : :
About Descriptions of the daring Blue Jay, who is a confident Brigadier Of The Area : : ( A ) “The pillow(y)” support that the “daring head” is resting on / that is, his hard boldness or bold hardiness “Is pungent evergreens;” ( lines 17 & 18 ) / Is One that is always capable of wounding ; ( B ) “His larder” / — His pantry for wines and food is “terse”; / clean and neat ; and ( C ) he is “militant –” ( in fighting ); / he is disposed to warfare –taking to a war-ridden hardline; ( line 19 ) ( D ) He is for “Unknown, refreshing things;” ( line 20 ) / He is constantly revising new and afresh ( plans , targets and strategies ) – no matter in unexplored area ; ( E ) “His character a tonic” ( line 21 ) /He is reputably invigorating ; ( F ) “His future a dispute:” ( line 22 ) / He always approaches and holds out resistance ; ( G ) He is “Unfair ” ; ( line 23 ) / Unjust and inequitable — Not fair in methods and ready to take advantage using foul means ; ( H ) “An immortality”( line 23 ); “That leaves this neighbour out.” ( line 24 ) ; / He believes in perpetual life after death, that is, in quality and state of being immortal ;That he will let the neighbour fall to the ground; and will not prevent neighbour’s fall or his own going down to the lower levels. : : : :
” The Blue Jay”, A Bird Poem By Emily Dickinson is a representative example of the American Renaissance writers of the 19 Th Century who wrote their poetry in response to what they were observing in the surrounding Nature they lived with. Emily Dickinson was one among such canonical writers with her own unique style and imagist depictions. : : : :
“The Blue Jay”, A Bird Poem By Emily Dickinson, Information Appreciation and poemnce Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India December 12, 2023 : : : : : : : :


















