When thinking about Dickinson, I've found that it's best to let go of everything you have ever heard about her. Every poem you've read, every though you've had, just let them all go. You want your mind to be fresh and clean - we're going to fill it with a much more holistic Emily Dickinson. Sure, part of my job is to convince you that Dickinson wasn't the death-obsessed, wide-eyed hermit everyone thinks she was, but in order to do that, I need you to let go of what you thought you knew about Emily.
Emily Dickinson loved people, more deeply and truly than most would understand. However, Dickinson was a true introvert. She enjoyed having time alone to read and think. She was energized by being alone and was quickly diminished by the company of others. This led to many hours and years of quiet and thoughtful study in her house, which led to the writing of 1,775 found poems and hundreds of letters. Emily Dickinson was not constrained to her house, she chose to stay there. During her younger years, Emily did get out. She took many small trips as well as trips to Boston and Philadelphia. She attended college for a year at Mt. Holyoke, but found that she thought differently than most there and chose to leave. She was greatly attached to her family - a mother, father, sister, and brother - and spent her life caring for and loving them. Many believe that the devotion she had toward her family is the reason she never married. Personally, I believe that might have been the case in the beginning, but after developing as a poet, her poetry is what kept her at home (this will be explored thoroughly in a later post).
If you ever get a chance to grab a copy of Emily's Letters you will quickly see the amount of energy and hope that she put into the relationship of those around her. She loved to love and wanted to have constant communication with the people in her life. Her closest companions change as she grows older, many she lives to see pass on, and others just pass out of her life.
Emily was such an intense friend she actually pushed many people out of her life. She constantly wanted to know everything there was to know about a person and his or her life. She wanted daily updates and was always waiting for the mail to come. Many of her letters begin with grief over the long absence of a letter (which, in many cases, was only a few short weeks) and end with a begging for a long letter back. There are many examples of this:
"I have been looking for a letter from you this long time but not receiving any I plucked up all the remaining courage that I had left and determined to make one more effort to write you a few lines..."
--A letter to Jane Humphrey in May of 1842
"Do write to me soon Dear A & let it be a long—long letter. Dont forget—!!!!!"
--A letter to Abiah Root in September of 1846
"Write me as long a letter as this is very soon."
--A letter to Austin Dickinson in February of 1848
Abiah Root is a great example of the extent to which Emily loved. It is thought that perhaps Emily pushed Abiah away with her intensity of freindship. Abiah was a friend of Emily's during her younger years and into her time at Mt. Holyoke. It is not quite known why the two stopped communicating, but in a letter to Abiah in October of 1848 Emily expresses her deep concern over the loss of friendship.
"Six long months have tried hard to make us strangers, but I love you better than ever notwithstanding the link which bound us in that golden chain is sadly dimmed, I feel more reluctant to lose you from that bright circle, whom I've called my friends I mailed a long letter to you the 1st of March, & patiently have I waited a reply, but none has yet cheered me....[I]f you dont want to be my friend any longer, say so, & I'll try once more to blot you from my memory. Tell me very soon, for suspense is intolerable."
From this, we can see how deeply Emily felt the relationship and the loss of communication. She felt it to strongly that she completely lost track of the time that she hadn't heard from Abiah. The letter that she mentions was actually written in mid-May. However, to Emily, the pain that she feels at not receiving anything from a beloved friend is too unbearable to even remember how long it's been since they last spoke.
Emily's love of people can not be overstated. These quick examples are from the beginning of her life when she felt the loss very acutely and expressed it mainly through letters. My belief is that she didn't understand why others were not as attached to her as she was to them. She wanted everyone to write her everyday so that she could write them everyday. It took time for Emily to realize that her attachement was stronger than others. Later in her life, she still longed for the people that had left her, but this loss was usually expressed through her poetry. She came to understand that she was different in her love, but that love was her business.
Friday, March 29, 2013
For the Non-Dainties of the World
Welcome to Dickinson for Non-Dainties!
I am Rochelle Cecil and I will be you host as together, we walk through some Emily Dickinson basics. Now, don't run off because you think that Emily is going to come after you in the night and make you a death-obsessed, wide-eyed hermit. Emily Dickinson will show you death and a bit of a hermit life, but she is also going to show you so much more than that. She'll teach you about love, joy, loss, pain, religion, friendship, and endless other realities of life. Emily Dickinson doesn't write for the "Daintier Folk," she writes to challenge and intrigue her audience. She seeks to help others understand life, ask questions, and wrestle with the world just as she did. Emily didn't have an easy life - it's never easy being denied by others - but she did a have a full and interesting life. It's a life worth looking into and trying to understand; it's a life worth diving into inorder to understand what motivated her, her poetry, and the call she felt to it; it's a life worth loving.
"Why do I love" You, Sir?
Because—
The Wind does not require the Grass
To answer—Wherefore when He pass
She cannot keep Her place.
Because He knows—and
Do not You—
And We know not—
Enough for Us
The Wisdom it be so—
The Lightening—never asked an Eye
Wherefore it shut—when He was by—
Because He knows it cannot speak—
And reasons not contained—
—Of Talk—
There be—preferred by Daintier Folk—
The Sunrise—Sir—compelleth Me—
Because He's Sunrise—and I see—
Therefore—Then—
I love Thee—
--Poem 480, Emily Dickinson
I have chosen this poem as the beginning of an overview of Emily Dickinson for two main reasons.
1) This shows a side of Dickinson that is rarely focused on - a playful, happy side. This poem was written as a Valentine poem (Dickinson wrote a number of these). Although many of her love and Valentine poems can be laced with a tint of anguish, this poem displays simply the fun, creative mind that accompanied Emily Dickinson. It's a nice taste of more to come :)
2) On the other side of that, it helps as a good starting point because it quickly throws the reader into the style of a Dickinson poem. Her poems are fraught with odd syntax, vocabulary, images, and punctuation that can take some time to get used to. This poem works well to teach us what that may come in the future.
Now, let's take some time to actually dive into this specific poem and learn more about the ins and outs of Emily.
This poem was one of the more than 350 poems Dickinson wrote in 1862, her most productive year.
Emily had a quick and thoughtful mind, with unique vocabulary and thought process. In poem 480, the speaker (it's never safe to assume the speaker of the poem in Emily herself. There are many poems where she takes on other personas ranging from young boys to creatures) is telling her lover why it is that she loves him. Like many people, if someone asked me to tell him or her why it is that I love, I would be completely and utterly speechless - I wouldn't have the slightest clue what to say to the person. But, Emily, instead of rambling on like I just did, was able to put words to the feelings.She is able to express the feelings of all people in very few words, and always manages to get them right.
Emily thought differently then anyone else that I've ever met, and she certainly thought different than anyone else in her time period. Only 11 of Dickinson's poems were published during her lifetime. Why? Because people didn't understand the way that she wrote. It was different - a type of writing that wouldn't been seen again until the Modern Era. But, a type of writing that she connected with and a type of writing that many people connect with. Poem 480 is about expressing the inexpressible, about uncovering the uncoverable, and about sharing the unsharable. Emily Dickinson was able to do all of this, and continues to do all of this. I hope that you'll continue to join me in the quest for seeing the world as a great mind was able to see it.
If you would like to read a quick overview of Emily Dickinson's life, a short biography can be found here.
And, just for some reference - it's always nice to put a face to a name - here is a common photo of Emily Dickinson.
I am Rochelle Cecil and I will be you host as together, we walk through some Emily Dickinson basics. Now, don't run off because you think that Emily is going to come after you in the night and make you a death-obsessed, wide-eyed hermit. Emily Dickinson will show you death and a bit of a hermit life, but she is also going to show you so much more than that. She'll teach you about love, joy, loss, pain, religion, friendship, and endless other realities of life. Emily Dickinson doesn't write for the "Daintier Folk," she writes to challenge and intrigue her audience. She seeks to help others understand life, ask questions, and wrestle with the world just as she did. Emily didn't have an easy life - it's never easy being denied by others - but she did a have a full and interesting life. It's a life worth looking into and trying to understand; it's a life worth diving into inorder to understand what motivated her, her poetry, and the call she felt to it; it's a life worth loving.
"Why do I love" You, Sir?
Because—
The Wind does not require the Grass
To answer—Wherefore when He pass
She cannot keep Her place.
Because He knows—and
Do not You—
And We know not—
Enough for Us
The Wisdom it be so—
The Lightening—never asked an Eye
Wherefore it shut—when He was by—
Because He knows it cannot speak—
And reasons not contained—
—Of Talk—
There be—preferred by Daintier Folk—
The Sunrise—Sir—compelleth Me—
Because He's Sunrise—and I see—
Therefore—Then—
I love Thee—
--Poem 480, Emily Dickinson
I have chosen this poem as the beginning of an overview of Emily Dickinson for two main reasons.
1) This shows a side of Dickinson that is rarely focused on - a playful, happy side. This poem was written as a Valentine poem (Dickinson wrote a number of these). Although many of her love and Valentine poems can be laced with a tint of anguish, this poem displays simply the fun, creative mind that accompanied Emily Dickinson. It's a nice taste of more to come :)
2) On the other side of that, it helps as a good starting point because it quickly throws the reader into the style of a Dickinson poem. Her poems are fraught with odd syntax, vocabulary, images, and punctuation that can take some time to get used to. This poem works well to teach us what that may come in the future.
Now, let's take some time to actually dive into this specific poem and learn more about the ins and outs of Emily.
This poem was one of the more than 350 poems Dickinson wrote in 1862, her most productive year.
Emily had a quick and thoughtful mind, with unique vocabulary and thought process. In poem 480, the speaker (it's never safe to assume the speaker of the poem in Emily herself. There are many poems where she takes on other personas ranging from young boys to creatures) is telling her lover why it is that she loves him. Like many people, if someone asked me to tell him or her why it is that I love, I would be completely and utterly speechless - I wouldn't have the slightest clue what to say to the person. But, Emily, instead of rambling on like I just did, was able to put words to the feelings.She is able to express the feelings of all people in very few words, and always manages to get them right.
Emily thought differently then anyone else that I've ever met, and she certainly thought different than anyone else in her time period. Only 11 of Dickinson's poems were published during her lifetime. Why? Because people didn't understand the way that she wrote. It was different - a type of writing that wouldn't been seen again until the Modern Era. But, a type of writing that she connected with and a type of writing that many people connect with. Poem 480 is about expressing the inexpressible, about uncovering the uncoverable, and about sharing the unsharable. Emily Dickinson was able to do all of this, and continues to do all of this. I hope that you'll continue to join me in the quest for seeing the world as a great mind was able to see it.
If you would like to read a quick overview of Emily Dickinson's life, a short biography can be found here.
And, just for some reference - it's always nice to put a face to a name - here is a common photo of Emily Dickinson.
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