Discovering Dickinson, all over again

[Hypnos]

XXIII

I REASON, earth is short,
And anguish absolute.
And many hurt;
But what of that?

I reason, we could die:
The best vitality
Cannot excel decay;
But what of that?

I reason that in heaven
Somehow, it will be even,
Some new equation given;
But what of that?
(Complete Poems. 1924. "Part Four: Time and Eternity")

[Sally]

:)

[Hypnos]

More here (http://www.bartleby.com/113/)

[ApeTheDog]

Not bad

[file cabinet]

in one of the classes I'm taking the teacher described the a bit of a "how to" in reading poetry. she said to, read it, then read it out loud(poems are meant to be said out loud and are not simply words on a flat piece of paper), then read it again. anyway, the snippet you posted resonated well.

[mgb]

I like this poem, thanks for posting it Hypnos.

I'll tell you what I like about it.

I love how she says "I reason". She doesn't say "it is reasonable," and it de-objectifies the whole poem. Every piece of reason is hers. To her, the earth is short. It might be long to some, but it's short to her.

And saying "But what of that?" is great too. It's an opened ended question. It could be rhetorical or you could try and answer it. You'll never find an answer, just like anguish will never stop, but maybe it's worth a shot.

I also like she is willing to accept mortality. There isn't a fountain of youth out there, so pragmatic. At the same time, it's ok to try and beat decay because what does it matter if you try? It's not going to hurt anyone.

And it all starts over once you die and go to heaven. But that's just the way it goes.

[Sackanaka]

Emily Dickinson has been a strong influence on my poetry. While I guess it's not the poetry but the philosophy we're to focus on, I love how she melds the two as if they were the same: is it philosophy through poetry, or is the poetry the philosophy? Neither, I conjecture.

[Hypnos]

mgbradsh,

Until the last verse, you can interpret the poem as a protest to the pain of life -- why not accept anguish, why not try to "excel" mortality?

However, the last verse is more suggestive, and I would so subversive: even if death yields heaven and salvation ("evens" things out), the narrator rejects it -- why? Because, the value is not in the strength to face adversity, but in the strength itself.

Nietzschean, if anything ever was. Don't play the game, transcend it.

[Hypnos]

Another fine poem:


LXXIII

I MANY times thought peace had come,
When peace was far away;
As wrecked men deem they sight the land
At centre of the sea,

And struggle slacker, but to prove,
As hopelessly as I,
How many the fictitious shores
Before the harbor lie.
This one is from "Part One: Life"

[cjs55]

Nietzschean, if anything ever was. Don't play the game, transcend it.

I agree. I felt this poem was equally showing the futility of focusing on the pain of mortal existance, or the perfection of an unseen perfect one after death. I read the 'but what of that' as saying: 'don't focus on this, it is meaningless', or even 'who the fuck cares?'

Acceptance of death and pain, but not a primary focus on it. And then 'somehow' heaven will even up the score, but again, this isn't something to focus on either.

[mgb]

Another fine poem:


LXXIII

I MANY times thought peace had come,
When peace was far away;
As wrecked men deem they sight the land
At centre of the sea,

And struggle slacker, but to prove,
As hopelessly as I,
How many the fictitious shores
Before the harbor lie.

This one is from "Part One: Life"

I'm really enjoying these poems. I think my favorite criticism style is Reader Response (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reader_Response). Her poems lend themselves well to that.

This one is harder. "Peace" in this poem is incredibly ambiguous. Is peace death? Maybe it's just quiet. Maybe it's peace among people? Or nations?

I'd relate to it and being that place where everything is just fine. Nothing is manic and nothing is depressive. You have to work hard to get to that place though, hence the "struggle slacker" but once you get there you can be assured of happiness. Something always comes up...but eventually we all get to that place, hoefully it comes before death, but we all get there.

[s]

Emily has always been so very dear to me, but never as a young girl did I read her biography. Intuitively I related to the "lady in white," but never would I have guessed we would share suchlike plights.

Always a pleasure,

s.

[Hypnos]

I'd relate to it and being that place where everything is just fine. Nothing is manic and nothing is depressive. You have to work hard to get to that place though, hence the "struggle slacker" but once you get there you can be assured of happiness. Something always comes up...but eventually we all get to that place, hoefully it comes before death, but we all get there.
Perhaps, one might take a more conservative interpretation: not that you enter a place where you're completely at peace, but that you are comfortable with life, such as it is. You have the strength to try to correct problems and live with the results.

[MacGuffin]

I must once again, quote Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Giles: "Oh, Emily Dickinson."
Buffy: "We're both fans."
Giles: "Yes, uh, she's quite a good poet, I mean for a...."
Buffy: "A girl?"
Giles: [quietly] "...for an American..."

[Jacque]

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Chapter XVII

"If Emmeline Grangerford could make poetry like that before she was fourteen, there ain't no telling what she could a done by and by. Buck said she could rattle off poetry like nothing. She didn't ever have to stop to think. He said she would slap down a line, and if she couldn't find anything to rhyme with it would just scratch it out and slap down another one, and go ahead. She warn't particular; she could write about anything you choose to give her to write about just so it was sadful. Every time a man died, or a woman died, or a child died, she would be on hand with her "tribute" before he was cold. She called them tributes. The neighbors said it was the doctor first, then Emmeline, then the undertaker--the undertaker never got in ahead of Emmeline but once, and then she hung fire on a rhyme for the dead person's name, which was Whistler. She warn't ever the same after that; she never complained, but she kinder pined away and did not live long. Poor thing, many's the time I made myself go up to the little room that used to be hers and get out her poor old scrap-book and read in it when her pictures had been aggravating me and I had soured on her a little. I liked all that family, dead ones and all, and warn't going to let anything come between us. Poor Emmeline made poetry about all the dead people when she was alive, and it didn't seem right that there warn't nobody to make some about her now she was gone; so I tried to sweat out a verse or two myself, but I couldn't seem to make it go somehow."

;)

[s0978]

bah humbug

[mgb]

bah humbug

uhhh, I think you are a little confused....that's DICKENS, no ON on the end...