dagblog - Comments for "Happy Valentines Day, Emily Dickinson"

Thanks, Mr. Smith. I've been

Oxy Mora — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:29:28 +0000

Thanks, Mr. Smith. I've been perusing the Habeggar biography and am thinking it's the other one I like better. Anyhow, they are both worth reading, especially the context of culture and religiosity in New England during the period.

Right. She had an active

Oxy Mora — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:25:46 +0000

In reply to Camille Paglia (a Dickinson

Right. She had an active emotional life with Higginson, Bowles, Wadsworth and Lord. Higginson was a journeyman poet and accomplished writer---but I don't think he fully understood her genius, as I guess no one could have had at that time. As Mr. Smith points out, the original poems were restored. Someone said a really tacky thing about her poetry, that it could all be sung to the tune of the "Yellow Rose of Texas". I fortunately came by an 1890 edition when it was affordable, and keep it in a small bookcase near by bedside.

Yes, that's true, but ...

MrSmith1 — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 02:23:21 +0000

In reply to Camille Paglia (a Dickinson

Yes, that's true, but ... then again, they could have burned all of them or, not realizing what they had, simply threw them away. Thankfully, the later, comprehensive editions restored the poems to their original structure and put them into a reasonably accurate chronological order.

Camille Paglia (a Dickinson

artappraiser — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:13:19 +0000

In reply to Great poem, Mr. Smith. Yes,

Camille Paglia (a Dickinson scholar way before she was a pop culture commentator) bitches about Dickinson's family (& Higgonson) screwing up her legacy, how they edited her stuff to be "namby pamby" acceptable to the times, basically castrating the real "Amherst Madame DeSade," until the more accurate Harvard editions came out in the 1950's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zEDCtyWEMY&feature=player_embedded

It's true and its the hardest

Oxy Mora — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:12:50 +0000

In reply to Yeah, I liked the perpetuity

It's true and its the hardest part. Excellent poem, wasn't carping.

Yeah, I liked the perpetuity

MrSmith1 — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:02:19 +0000

In reply to Great poem, Mr. Smith. Yes,

Yeah, I liked the perpetuity line, but I thought it didn't quite scan... didn't someone once say something about being a writer means that sometimes you have to kill your babies?

Great poem, Mr. Smith. Yes,

Oxy Mora — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:24:06 +0000

In reply to There are certain moments

Great poem, Mr. Smith. Yes, the moment of discovery must have been something. As I recall, some material was burned, I think it was Dickinson's request, but a large bundle was saved. Thomas Higginson figured prominently in her life and in the publication of "Poems", 1890. I read two biographies which are fascinating. One is "My Wars are laid away in books", Alfred Habeggar, really readable.

I miss the rhyme of "perpetuity" and "tree".

There are certain moments

MrSmith1 — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:06:44 +0000

In reply to Thanks, Emma. She was the

There are certain moments that I would love to be able to go back in time and witness. One of them would the posthumous discovery of Emily Dickinson's poems by her sister.

I re-worked my improv of last night a bit ...

-----------------------------

I'm adrift in damp depression

over moonbeams which don't shine for me

each darkened night, my porch swing's empty

and no-one sips my tea but me.

Gloom is an amber shadow,

which hides behind each flirting tree

and yet ... in spite of all misgivings,

my violets still await the Spring.

And so, I can not help but wonder ...

and while I'm wondering, I sing.

Now, I know my voice has gotten raspy

and my memory's lost a thought or two,

but what I feel has sailed the oceans

and wrestled dragons (more than a few.).

my feelings scaled enormous mountains, and engaged in many a daring fling

Still, I can not help but wonder

and while I'm wondering, I sing.

Hope, my friend, has perplexed many,

Emily says it's a feathered thing,

But whether you've got too much or you haven't any,

my violets still await the Spring.

Thanks, Emma. She was the

Oxy Mora — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:03:04 +0000

In reply to oh, oh emily....

Thanks, Emma. She was the treasure of the 19th Century. And for a life time she fought the pressures for religious conversion and practiced her art. Such an amazing person.

oh, oh emily....

EmmaZahn — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:10:30 +0000

In reply to Happy Valentines Day, Emily Dickinson

oh, oh emily....

Wild Nights – Wild Nights! (249)
by Emily Dickinson

Wild Nights – Wild Nights! Were I with thee Wild Nights should be Our luxury! Futile – the winds – To a heart in port – Done with the compass – Done with the chart! Rowing in Eden – Ah, the sea! Might I moor – Tonight – In thee!