We never know how high we are

“We never know how high we are” is a lyrical poem. The poem is short and compact, containing a total of two stanzas and eight lines. Unlike a fair amount of lyrical poems, “We never know how we are” lacks an “I.” The speaker doesn’t talk from an ostensibly personal perspective, instead using the first person, plural pronoun “we.” In “We never know how high we are,” the speaker takes on the voice of humankind to convey a broad insight into humanity. The meaning and gravity of that insight is open for debate; like many Dickinson poems, “We never know how high we are” resembles a puzzle with pieces that fit together in multiple ways. It aims to teach the reader a lesson or convey to the reader a central trait of humanity. Since there might be multiple, conflicting lessons, the poem also qualifies as a riddle, and the answer to the riddle depends on the interpretation.

From the very first “we” Line 1, the poem’s diction is inclusive and sweeping. The speaker isn’t addressing a specific person or set of people, they’re talking about everyone. “We never know how high we are,” states the speaker. The “never” indicates a confident speaker. This is someone who knows what they are talking about and doesn’t feel the need to amend or qualify their thoughts. They are comfortable with absolutes. The hyperbolic tone of Line 1 creates a galvanized mood.

The action continues in Line 2 where the speaker finishes the thought in Line 1. People don’t know what they’re capable of until they “are called to rise.” Line 2 provides a second dramatic image. An extraordinary event foists a person to respond bravely and boldly. The circumstance has summoned or “called” them and put them in a position where they have no choice but to react. The language remains emphatic; there is no room for half-measures or negotiations, because a person either answers the call and rises or they do not.

What happens next alludes to religion and Calvinism. The speaker begins with “If we are true to plan” (Line 3), the word “plan” relating to predestination and the notion that everyone has a predetermined fate; there is a design attached to each individual that they can’t escape. In My Emily Dickinson (1985), Susan Howe links Dickinson’s poetry to the Puritan minister Jonathan Edwards. Howe writes, “The Puritan consciousness of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) shadows and prefigures that of Emily Dickinson." Edwards believed God selected specific people for salvation and consigned the rest to hell. In a sermon from the summer of 1741, Edwards says, “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked.” God is in control and God has a plan. Like the diction in “We never know how high we are,” the plan is absolute and fixed.

If a person is elected for greatness, if distinction is a part of their plan, their “statures touch the skies.” The imagery preserves the religious allusions, with the sky symbolizing the heavens, godliness, or another kind of celestial plane. Yet the word “statures” unsettles the religious imagery and brings the poem back down to earth. Stature refers to a person’s height or reputation; no person is physically tall enough to touch the sky. If a person’s stature touches the sky, that doesn’t automatically mean that they are touching the skies. A person and their reputation aren't synonymous.

A person’s reputation mostly relies on what other people think of them. If the public views a person favorably, they ill possess an impressive stature. If people in a given society look down on a person, their stature is inconsequential. This theme reflects the fact that Dickinson, for the most part, did not view the public favorably. In the poem “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” (ca 1861), Dickinson dismisses the public as an “admiring Bog.” She thinks it's “dreary—to be—Somebody!”

As Dickinson continued her work, Howe believes that she grew “less and less interested in temporal blessing.” Stanza 1 focuses on temporal matters like experience and fame. An alternative interpretation is that humans can’t know how high they are because they are humans. They are imperfect beings with notable blind spots. A person might think they’re touching the sky when they’re not, and someone might believe their stature is insignificant when it’s of the utmost consequence. Earthly approval often misleads.

While Dickinson was alive, she didn’t enjoy a high stature. According to Martha Ackman, “To many who knew her, Dickinson’s only acclaim was winning second prize for her rye and Indian bread at the annual cattle show.” After her death and the publication of her poems, Dickinson’s stature rose to enormous heights. Stature is not a matter of reacting boldly to a specific situation. Instead, stature is imperceptible. One can “never know how high” someone is because the norms of their time skew their viewpoint.

Few people were aware of Dickinson’s work and how she might have felt like she was touching the sky in her intensely private way. Howe speculates that Dickinson deliberately chose not to publish her work while alive to avoid a false sense of stature. For Howe, Dickinson’s decision to keep her work to herself represents the “consummate Calvinist gesture of self-assertion by a poet with faith to fling election loose across the incandescent shadows of futurity.”

The diction in Stanza 2 continues to allow for multiple interpretations. The speaker begins with “The Heroism we recite,” (Line 5); heroism, like stature, relies on the general opinion of society. People “recite'' heroic deeds, so they relay them from a source. Perhaps the source is biblical and religious, or maybe the source is temporal and derives from how a given society defines heroism. The former reading links to predestination, Puritanism, and Calvinism, while the latter reading reinforces the folly of humans and their inability to gauge their own stature.

Heroism is not a “daily thing” (Line 6). People don’t talk about it as if it’s commonplace or ordinary. The use of the word “thing” reinforces the elusive nature of heroism. Heroism is something that can’t be named or conclusively identified. It might be a tangible, perceptible deed or intangible and invisible.

Line 7 further complicates Dickinson’s poem. Heroism would happen more frequently if not for “the Cubits warp.” Cubits is another religious world. In the Bible, cubits are how Noah’s arc is measured. Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, and other historical cultures used cubits. The biblical allusion advances the theme of religion and predestination. Many aren’t heroes — they're not chosen by God — because they're trapped or warped by their fallen humanity. The historical allusion pushes the theme of futurity. Heroism isn’t something that happens overnight, nor is it immediately identifiable—it’s something that can take decades or centuries to recognize.

The last line — Line 8 — doesn’t explicitly resolve the conflicting interpretations of “We never know how high we are.” Dickinson might be saying that people take refuge in their restraints because a king's enormous responsibilities produce "fear" in the average person. Conversely, Dickinson could also be saying that people are too scared to leave the quantifiable, material world behind. The emphasis on measuring and reputations is due to their “fear to be a King.” A king symbolizes absolute power and control. Such extensive authority makes the common person apprehensive.

The kingly power can be visible or secret. Dickinson might have felt like a king because her withdrawal from society made her feel powerful and untouchable. In Sexual Personae (1990), Camille Paglia says Dickinson was “struggling with the absence of limits, with the gross inflation of solipsistic imagination.” A person who primarily exists in a world of their own can also feel like a boundless hero or unrestrained monarch.

Paul Legault sums up two of the dichotomous lessons in “We never know how high we are” with his playful “translation” of the poem in The Emily Dickinson Reader. Legault translates her poem in one sentence, “I’m kind of amazing and modest.” There are pros and cons to being singular and “amazing” like a king. There are also pluses and minuses in being humble, unpretentious, and “modest."