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The Soul has Bandaged moments —
When too appalled to stir —
She feels some ghastly Fright come up
And stop to look at her —

What is the difference in meaning between the phrase contained in the last two lines of the stanza and the following:

She feels some ghastly fright coming up and stopping to look at her.

What meaning does Dickinson's choice of words impart? P.S. This question is not a duplicate of my previous one - and so please do not close it.

Heartspring
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John Smith
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  • Coming and stopping wouldn't scan! – Kate Bunting Mar 31 '23 at 08:06
  • @KateBunting Thanks for your hint. The adduced question was mine and it was closed. I now posted this one, which is different as it focuses on the difference in meaning between the present continuous forms of the verbs and those in Dickinson's version hoping that it won't be closed. The other question asked about the correctness of the third person simple present form, and so it was different. Please do not close this question because of my previous question as I intend to delete the previous one once I get the answer here. – John Smith Mar 31 '23 at 08:21
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    I know it was yours - I voted to close this one because it appears to be a near-duplicate. It would be perfectly grammatical to say She feels [a] fright coming up, but it wouldn't fit the metre of the poem. – Kate Bunting Mar 31 '23 at 08:35
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    This is not a duplicate. On the other question I requested that the asker create a new one to cover the "-ing" use, since that is a new and separate question. @KateBunting – alphabet Mar 31 '23 at 13:22
  • I’m voting to close this question because it's about Lit Crit / preferred stylistic choices – FumbleFingers Mar 31 '23 at 17:18

3 Answers3

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You have confused the issue by quoting poetry. Your example would have been better removed from an author's works.

  1. She feels some ghastly Fright comes up
  1. She feels some ghastly Fright coming up
  1. She feels some ghastly Fright come up

are all possible but have different nuances.

  1. She feels that some ghastly Fright comes up

that some ghastly Fright comes up is a content clause describing the content of what she feels. The simple present describes a completed action - the Fright has arrived.

  1. She feels some ghastly Fright coming up.

coming up is adjectival. It is a reduced relative clause - She feels some ghastly Fright that is coming up.

The action of the continuous form of the verb means that, at the time referred to, is uncompleted. The Fright is in the process of arriving.

  1. She feels some ghastly Fright come up

come up is a bare infinitive. It is acting adverbially.

Greybeard
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    The content clause version has a different meaning, not just different syntax: https://english.stackexchange.com/a/605425/470858 – alphabet Mar 31 '23 at 13:21
  • What is the difference in meaning of come up acting adverbially when compared with 1. and 2.? – John Smith Apr 02 '23 at 06:49
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In your version with "-ing," "coming" is best interpreted as a gerund with an accusative subject, rather than as a participle. The most plausible meaning (in my opinion) is not that she felt the fright which was coming up but that she felt the coming up itself.

In this case, the meaning is similar (if not identical) to that of the bare infinitive version, not the content clause version; see my answer to the other part of your question. Macmillan notes that "feel someone/something do something" and "feel someone/something doing something" have the same meaning.

So your proposed change would not alter Dickinson's meaning; this is largely a matter of style. It would be less formal; many old-fashioned style guides frown on gerunds with accusative subjects and I suspect that in Dickinson's time such constructions were more widely condemned. It also wouldn't fit the meter, but given Dickinson's metrical creativity that seems like an inadequate explanation on its own.

alphabet
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  • coming up and stopping are both verbs in the progressive aspect. – Tinfoil Hat Mar 31 '23 at 16:32
  • @TinfoilHat Surely "coming" would not be a finite verb here; that would leave each line with two finite verbs in the main clause, or it would create a finite subordinate clause without the "be" before the progressive. – alphabet Mar 31 '23 at 16:47
  • The Fright (ghost) came up and stopped. Not a problem. – Tinfoil Hat Mar 31 '23 at 16:49
  • @TinfoilHat "She feels some ghastly fright coming up" is not a finite progressive verb. "She feels (that) some fright is coming up" or just "Some fright is coming up" would be." – alphabet Mar 31 '23 at 16:53
  • She sees the Fright (ghost) come up and stop. She hears the Fright (ghost) come up and stop. She feels the Fright (ghost) come up and stop. – Tinfoil Hat Mar 31 '23 at 16:59
  • @TinfoilHat I'm a bit confused--how is either version in the OP ("come" or "coming") progressive? – alphabet Mar 31 '23 at 17:01
  • present simple: come up; present progressive: coming up; present simple: approach; present progressive: approaching – Tinfoil Hat Mar 31 '23 at 17:03
  • @TinfoilHat Not all uses of the "-ing" form are progressive finite verbs; they can also be gerunds, as my answer explains. – alphabet Mar 31 '23 at 17:04
  • Certain prescriptivists would want "the fright's coming up," but in contemporary AmE gerunds can have accusative subjects. – alphabet Mar 31 '23 at 17:06
  • In this poem, come up is a verb, and changing it to coming up changes the verb's aspect. There is no gerund here. – Tinfoil Hat Mar 31 '23 at 17:09
  • @TinfoilHat "Come up" is not a finite verb either (it would have to be "comes up"); it's a bare infinitive. – alphabet Mar 31 '23 at 17:11
  • The two are not the same: one is Historic Present and the other is continuous. She feels /a Fright come up/versus She feels/a Fright coming up/ . – Lambie Mar 31 '23 at 17:51
  • @Lambie "Come" is not present; it's a bare infinitive. "Feels" is simple present in both examples. – alphabet Mar 31 '23 at 18:06
  • She feels//some ghastly Fright come up// I did misdo the grammar. It's a linking verb with a complement. But my point about poetic force of the phrase is right. The bare infinitive here is stronger than the participle phrase. – Lambie Mar 31 '23 at 18:20
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In this poem, the soul is personified as a woman (she) and Fright is a ghost or goblin.

To paraphrase:

She feels a ghost approach
And stop to look at her -

Salute her, with long fingers -
Caress her freezing hair -

(She feels a ghost approach and stop to look at her - salute her and, with long fingers, caress her hair.)

If you want to change the aspect from simple to progressive, you get:

She feels a ghost approaching
And stopping to look at her -

Saluting her, with long fingers -
Caressing her freezing hair -

(She feels a ghost approaching and stopping to look at her - saluting her and, with long fingers, caressing her hair.)

What is the difference in meaning? Not much. Though, as a matter of style, the verb form that follows feel (as a verb of perception) reflects duration. Compare the simple aspect/infinitive and the progressive aspect/present participle:

I felt the ground shaking for about half a minute.
I felt the ground shake once.
Source: Grammaring — SEE, WATCH, HEAR, LISTEN, FEEL, SMELL, NOTICE, OBSERVE + object + present participle

Meanwhile, approach (draw near) already suggests duration, so the progressive is redundant, and stop — unless you’re pulling the train brakes — is a point in time . . .

I think Em knew what she was doing.

Tinfoil Hat
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