a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Poems of Emily

   
The only authenticated portrait of Emily Dickinson later than childhood, 
the original is held by the Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College.
BY ME

In her room
She yelled silently
No one knew
Until she departed
How Emily was strong
Writing
To fill our souls
With music

Because I Could Not Stop For Death

By Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible.
The cornice but a mound.
Since then 'tis centuries but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity. 

For Poets United...Oh, that I could write as Emily did!

16 comments:

Ginny Hartzler said...

I have always LOVED her poetry! But I do not remember this one. I think it is something that Poe would have liked, only much more refined and delicate. It is truly a wonderful poem, I MUST get a book of her poetry, I will look when I go to the bookstore later this week. What a treat to find this!. Have you read any e.e. Cummings, I like him, too.

Ginny Hartzler said...

P.S, I think you must have written the first part, the little tribute to her. I love that, you use your words wisely and can say so much using so few. I love how you compare good writing to the music of the soul.

MadSnapper said...

i like yours better, this one means nothing to me, but yours does...short and to the point and clearly understood, yours i mean. this is why i did not listen in school... kind of like baseball or football.. or watching paint dry.

Country Gal said...

My mum used to have her books . Wonderful both of them ! Thanks for sharing . Have a good day !

Susan Kane said...

This was/is one of my favorites. I heard the first time at a speech contest and it took my breath away.

TexWisGirl said...

you do very well yourself. :)

moondustwriter said...

aspire to be yourself
take your pen in hand
each word it takes on meaning
for the world to understand

I like the way you write
enjoy each season that you write for the inspiration does change

Josie Two Shoes said...

Yes, she wrote beautifully, but I am a say it plain and simple kind of girl, and you do that so very, very well, Gail!

Brian Miller said...

emily has a very interesting story as well behind her poetry....and i think you got a bit of the music as well...smiles.

Susan Anderson said...

I've always loved her.

=)

John Going Gently said...

Brian said it forme

Mary said...

Really is amazing how Emily wrote so much and her works were not discovered until after she died. This is a wonderful tribute to a fine poet.

Michaele said...

You are correct. Reading Emily is like singing a song. I wish I could write like both of you.

LilliStJohn said...

I have found that when poetry, a good story or music has found a way to my inner soul, I am simply left waiting for more. I love how you write Gail, I even get your "sense" of humour, which I do enjoy very much. I have always enjoyed "Emily" very much and it makes me happy that you have found your way in choice words and phrases, as you touch each of us with your writings and photos, - photos being the courtesy of Marcy, yourself and other family:)

Sandee said...

Yes, she did write very well, but so do you. We often don't give ourselves enough credit do we?

Have a terrific day. :)

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Oh to have written as she did - yes indeed! I also love what you say about her.

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