The poem by Emily Dickson ‘Faith is a fine Invention’ was initially sent as a letter in 1844 and to Samuel Bowles who was at the time the ‘Springfield Republican’ newspaper’s publisher and editor. Mr. Bowles despite being close to Emily and her family denied her the chance to publish in their newspaper.
In the letter Emily had requested Mr. Bowles to think again about publishing her poems. Mr. Bowles always recommended that Emily to put forward her poems to New York publishers. Emily seemed to be quite relentless in having her poems published in the Springfield Republican newspaper.
The opening line of this poem is quite sarcastic Emily states that ‘faith is a fine invention for men who see’. Faith means having complete confidence in something or someone. According to Mr. Bowles, Emily was supposed to have faith that her poems would be published by other publishers other than by him. Emily refers to faith as an invention this is immediately creates an image of it not being untrue. An invention is created therefore if faith is created by others then it may just be to protect their feelings. Mr. Bowles is well aware of the friendship that they have with Emily and he wants to give her hope of getting her poems published. He is concerned about her feelings.
Since at the time publishing was a profession that was male dominated the poet uses the word ‘Gentlemen’ to refer to the publishers. Emily has the strong belief that her poems would appeal to some people in as much they appear incomprehensible to others. She is convinced that there is one individual who would ‘see’ how magnificent her poems were and give a chance of publishing. She is without doubt convinced that this individual is none other than Mr. Bowles and not the other ‘gentlemen’. These gentlemen would never appreciate the quality of her poems the same Mr. Bowles would. Therefore it is important to her that Mr. Bowles accepts and publishes her poems.
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The poet may also be trying to point out discrimination faced by female writers of that time when she refers to the gentlemen. The works of female writers were quite disregarded. Since Mr. Bowles and Emily are friends she knows he will not look down on her work because of the mutual respect that they have. The other publishers would look at her work with clouded judgment due to the pre-formed opinions about literary work done by women.
Emily has asked Mr. Bowles to change his mind about not publishing her poems. She tells him to have an even closer view of her poems by using a ‘microscope’. She is trying to persuade Mr. Bowles to appreciate the quality of her work by every means possible. She is quite persuasive in her language she describes the publishing of her poems as an emergency. For Mr. Bowles to quickly recognize her potential then it is ‘prudent’ that he utilizes that microscope.