Author Archives: styreehe

Who is Emily Dickinson?

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In class on Tuesday, we discussed the poem in which Dickinson describes things that she does and does not want to be or do. This poem really left me thinking “who is Emily Dickinson?”. Given the nature of her life and the lack of personal information we have about her, besides the letters that she sent to others, it is interesting to get a deeper look into her own wants and desires beyond what we can see in the personality that she presents to others. I am interested to see what other details about her wants, desires, and personality we will get as we continue reading more of her poems, particularly as they move forward into later periods of her life.

The Importance of Dickinson’s Connection to her Work

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When we were discussing Dickinson’s death/marriage poem on Thursday, something that came up was the fact that Dickinson didn’t really seem to be scared of death, so her writing about being scared of death, either in itself, through the metaphor of marriage, or as a metaphor for marriage, didn’t seem to make sense. Yet, does it matter if Dickinson can personally relate to the poetry she is writing? Or is poetry, in general, more about creating spaces for individuals to relate to one another, regardless of how the poet themselves relates? This question interests me specifically when thinking about Dickinson because she did not seem to have any interest in publishing her works. The only way that her work was spread was directly to another person by herself in her letters, which seems like it would take away the possibility for relatability between people beyond Dickinson. Does this mean that we shouldn’t view Dickinson’s work as possibly being relatable in ways beyond her own experiences, or could her poetry still be viewed that way even if it wasn’t her intention?

Whitman or Dickinson?

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This is a very surface level thought, but it is still so jarring to me to compare the lengthy, 50-page poems we were reading from Whitman to the sometimes only 4-8 line poems from Dickinson. Which do you prefer? As of now, I think I prefer Dickinson because even though her poems are harder to understand, they feel more fun to read (sorry Whitman). Also, Dickinson is a woman, and I’m always going to choose a woman over a man (not sorry Whitman).

WWDT: What Would Dickinson Think?

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In a letter to Dickinson from Helen Hunt Jackson, Helen writes asking why Dickinson won’t consider publishing any of her works. She says that when she is dead and is looking back on her life, Dickinson will be sorry that she was so stingy with her work. It made me wonder if Dickinson would be or is regretting her decisions. Based on her reclusive and solitary nature, I’m not sure if she is disappointed. Her work has gotten out without her having to deal with the publicity that comes with it. If anything, I think that this is exactly what she would have wanted, if she wanted her work to ever be published at all.

Real Life Dickinson vs. Curated Literary Dickinson

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In letter #342a, Higginson writes to his wife about meeting Dickinson. Something that really stuck out to me in this letter was his description of meeting Dickinson in person for the first time; he describes her as very meek, saying that she seemed frightened and childlike. This feels like the complete opposite of the Dickinson that we see presented in her letters. Obviously, this description of meeting her shouldn’t be too surprising as we know that she rarely sees new people, but the difference between the self-assured confidence she exudes in her letters and her poetry compared to the shyness that she shows in-person felt very drastic.

How do Letters Connect Us?

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In letter #73, Dickinson is writing to Susie (unsurprisingly). Towards the beginning of this letter, Dickinson says “I cannot deny myself the luxury of a minute or two with you” (77), implying that taking the time to write to Susie is the same, or at least similar enough, to actually spending time with her. However, closer to the middle of the poem, Dickinson says “How vain it seems to write, when one knows how to feel” (77), contradicting the implication of her previous statement. This idea reminded me of the conversation we had in class about how Whitman would feel about social media as a form of connection. Is letter writing, to either Dickinson or to us, a form of connection that is either the same or similar enough to actually seeing someone in person? Or is there something fundamentally unique about being in-person that cannot be replicated through letters, no matter how intimately you write to someone? Also, what would Dickinson think of social media?

The Length of the Letters

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This may be a rather surface-level thought, but when reading for class on Tuesday, I couldn’t help but notice that as we get further into the letter collection and therefore further in time, Dickinson’s letters get noticeably shorter. Not only that, but they also include more phrases and writing that feel reminiscent of poetry rather than prose. This could just be a consequence of Dickinson just getting more involved in her own poetry, so she has less time to write letters, as well as causing poetic writing to become more prominent in her letters. However, I do wonder if there is some other reason for this; is it possible that it is more of a conscious choice that Dickinson made?

Whitman’s Prose

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When reading for today, I was really interested in the difference between Whitman’s poetry and prose. Specifically, it was interesting to me to compare the very abstract and theoretical nature of Whitman’s poetry to the very literal and factual nature of his prose. I’m not sure yet which one I prefer though I have grown found of his poems and the messages behind them.

Whitman Changing Up His Style?

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In Drum-Taps, Whitman makes a few new choices that we have not really seen from him so far. In two of the poems within this collection (“Song of the Banner at Daybreak” and “The Centenarian’s Story”), Whitman separates the poem into sections dictated by the person who seemingly is speaking. This method gives these poems a sort-of story-like feel, which is something we may expect more from prose rather than poetry. Another change that I noticed was in “Dirge for Two Veterans”, in which Whitman both uses much shorter lines than in his other poems and adds an indent to the first and fourth line of each stanza. Why do you think Whitman made these changes? Do you think that they are supposed to represent something, or is merely noticing their difference supposed to mean something in itself?

Body vs Soul or Body & Soul?

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In “I Sing the Body Electric”, Whitman describes the human body, both the female and male bodies, describing their different parts and what makes them sacred and divine. In Section 9, Whitman lists of basically every part of the body, emphasizing this distinction between the body and the soul. And yet, he ends the poem with the line “O I say now these are the soul!” (Whitman 258). So which is it? Are the body and the soul two distinct features of human existence that work together to function within human life, or are these two features interconnected to an extreme degree where they are undistinguishable from each other?