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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