~Randall Jarrell, on Emily Dickinson
While working on a set of Emily Dickinson cards (like the Basho ones), I ran across these poems. A little optimism with a dash of romance and a splash of nature-love. Just the ticket!
Dawn
by Emily Dickinson
When night is almost done,
And sunrise grows so near
That we can touch the spaces,
It 's time to smooth the hair
And get the dimples ready,
And wonder we could care
For that old faded midnight
That frightened but an hour.
************
The Outlet
by Emily Dickinson
My river runs to thee :
Blue sea, wilt welcome me ?
My river waits reply.
Oh sea, look graciously !
I'll fetch thee brooks
From spotted nooks, —
Say, sea, take me !
************
A Service of Song
by Emily Dickinson
Some keep the Sabbath going to church ;
I keep it staying at home,
With a bobolink for a chorister,
And an orchard for a dome.
Some keep the Sabbath in surplice ;
I just wear my wings,
And instead of tolling the bell for church,
Our little sexton sings.
God preaches, — a noted clergyman, —
And the sermon in never long ;
So instead of getting to heaven at last,
I'm going all along !
************
Nix the Comfort Zone has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Molly!
15 comments:
Lovely, lovely, and lovely. Oh, Miss Dickinson, you are just the best. And, I should commit to re-reading at least some of your works each year for the healing they give my soul. Love the idea of lines of Dickinson on poetry cards...you give me ideas! A wonderful post, Tabatha. I will return to this post for a refresher.
I've been making haiku oracle decks inspired by Courtney Garrison's the first time you shared the link...but that's all I'll say about that for now...
(wink wink to those who know of whence I speak)
Love "A Service of Song" that speaks to me because Covid cut into real church, so I had to find other ways to worship. Like Emily, I realize that we are all going to heaven "all along."
Today I shared your poem gift to me. Thanks, again!
oh I do love Emily Dickenson! Thank you for posting these today.
Wonderful Emily Dickenson poems, Tabatha! I'm partial to those "spotted nooks" and the first stanza of "A Service of Song." I love the idea of those Basho cards. I'd forgotten all about them and am so glad you shared the idea again. Please make sure to take some pictures of your Emily Dickenson cards when they're done!
A look at Emily Dickinson now makes me remember how I fell in love with her writing in high school. Thanks for the ED poems, Tabatha.
Are there any bad Emily Dickinson poems? I don't think I've ever read one that I didn't enjoy. I especially liked Dawn, although all three here are fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
I will be delighted to see which poems you've chosen for your cards, and what you make of them! I'm going all along too, I hope.
I loved "The Outlet" as I prepare to head to the coast in a couple of weeks,
Thank you Tabatha for these short, yet powerful Emily Dickenson offerings. I did enjoy the lead descriptor of Dickenson as -'a wonderful rhetorician, and one of the most individual writers who ever lived.' Indeed. On this occasion you have highlighted her ability to employ as economy of words,loaded with intent.
I am very fascinated about your Basho cards... which I have obviously missed in my busyness. I am quite delighted by 'The Outlet' - living as we do near some spotted nooks. (That trickle and sigh, more than they run.)
Beautiful Emily poems you share today. Heidi made a sweet connection between "A Service of Song" and a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning I shared: "Earth's crammed with heaven / And every common bush afire with God..."
I'll look forward to hearing and seeing more about your Emily cards. Hopefully you will take photos this time!
Thanks Tabatha for sharing these three Emily Dickinson poems, all carry her unique voice as if she's here reciting them to us…
Thank you for sharing these, Tabatha. I have always loved "A Service of Song" but haven't thought about it in quite a while. It was exactly the poem I needed to read this morning.
Tabatha -- I just finished a week-long Thoreau deep dive with the Thoreau Institute at the Walden Woods Project. I think Miss Emily was revealing her Transcendentalist leanings in A Service of Song. I've always loved that one. The others are new to me and equally lovely. Cheers!
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