"Faith" is a fine Invention - Emily Dickinson

"Faith" is a fine invention


For Gentlemen who see!


But Microscopes are prudent


In an Emergency !

This is by far my favorite poem by Emily Dickinson. Faith is indeed a fine invention by humans to keep us civilized. I remember watching the video game "Resonance of Fate" and suddenly got all philosophical when i heard the following line

Faith brings Order

Order brings Stability and

Stability brings Prosperity



Dont why that stood out in my mind from the game but Im just liking this amazing reclusive American poet. Here is an analysis of the poem by Susan Kornfeld of "The Prowling Bee" blog.

In a clever little dig at unexamined religiousness, the poet suggests that Faith is not only an “invention” but a redundant one as it is fit for “Gentlemen” who can already see what they want with their normal vision. But even this invention falls short of what is needed in an “Emergency.” When you can’t see with unaided eyes what needs to be seen, it’s time to wheel out the microscope.

The core faith for most major religions is that the Holy books reveal truth and that their (and their clergies’) prescribed form of worship, rituals, and value systems are what most please God. There are some people who see God’s hand in everything or who think God talks directly to them. What will happen when beliefs and holy texts fall short or are even contradicted? While faith is “fine” when evil is punished, virtue rewarded, and prayers seemingly answered, if things are amiss, then faith might be questioned. Perhaps it will reign supreme no matter what (always explained away as “God’s mysterious ways,” or the need to believe in a “grander scheme” in which our little sufferings [like the Civil War or slavery – topics bleeding over dinner tables or worse throughout the U.S. at the time Dickinson was writing this]) serve some ultimate Good, but Dickinson recommends taking a close look. The preacher or doctor needs to think and reflect deeply not only on what he reads but on what he sees.

Dickinson was a naturalist and educated woman, and this reality-based approach suited her. Her poems don’t spout “commonplace truths” as so many did in her time (with some exceptions), but are often shockingly bold and original.

The poem is concise and clever enough to be epigrammatic. It’s the sort of thing that can be easily memorized and trotted out on appropriate occasions.