emily dickinson - Encouragement

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Pain — has an Element of Blank" (650)

Dickinson claims "Pain – has an Element of Blank." I can't help but think how uncomfortable we are with that notion.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "I worked for chaff and earning Wheat" (J 1269)

The question for us is our devotion to the worthless.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "There is no Frigate like a Book"

...how to respond to someone determined to tell you everything you're reading is worthless?

emily dickinson

Emily Dickinson, "The power to be true to You" (464)

Dickinson does not inch toward the cosmic.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "I had no time to Hate"

...this little poem starts with trying to look into a quiet, lush landscape painting and wish yourself there.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Experience is the Angled Road" (910)

Many have used poetry to generate lingering, meditative essays, but Dickinson is in rare form with "Experience is the Angled Road."

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "I can wade Grief" (252)

Dickinson's darkly comic opening should rankle us. Really? You can wade grief?

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Fame is the one that does not stay" (Franklin 1507)

There is no way to talk about being American without confronting Emily Dickinson.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "The Savior must have been a docile Gentleman" (1487)

Sometimes I think about doing. Perhaps there is a meaning to doing itself, a meaning that holds true for all actions.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Hope" is the thing with feathers (254)

I do think there's a strong relation between hope and anxiety...

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "A nearness to Tremendousness" (963)

What shattering, colossal lines: "A nearness to Tremendousness – / An Agony procures."

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "There's a certain Slant of light" (258)

I want to begin 2024 by talking about Dickinson's "There's a certain Slant of light."

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "The things we thought that we should do" (1293)

This Thanksgiving, I forgot to count my blessings.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Because I could not stop for Death"

I never thought I'd see a world dominated this thoroughly by big babies who have the magic power of making the unacceptable seem rational.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, “A Letter is a joy of Earth” (1639)

Letters are not easy. I know this, but I write bad ones anyway.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "As willing lid o’er weary eye" (1050)

...the evening would not be the evening, nor the day the day, if we did not labor and require rest.

poetry

On Creation: Emily Dickinson, "I dwell in Possibility"

...genuine expressions of identity are nothing less than poetry.

poetry

Not beyond pain: Emily Dickinson, "Presentiment — is that long Shadow — on the Lawn" (764)

There are days of disappointment.

poetry

The "Soul" in Emily Dickinson's "The Soul selects her own Society" (303)

Dickinson, even when choosing her own society, does not fail to remind herself of the cost of company, a cost not unlike isolation...

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Much Madness is divinest Sense"

When I encounter the sentence "Much Madness is divinest Sense," I think back to middle school and high school.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "The Sunset stopped on Cottages" (950)

I want Dickinson's confidence, though I can't help but think it hubris.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "To fight aloud is very brave" (126)

Dickinson says "To fight aloud is very brave," and "brave" catches me unguarded. I don't think I've ever been "brave."

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Our share of night to bear" (133)

...your literal self is on full display during a move.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "The difference between Despair / and Fear" (305)

The outstanding question of Dickinson's "The difference between Despair / and Fear" is why the difference has to be known.

poetry

Emily Dickinson, "If I can stop one heart from breaking" (919)

Dickinson is practical, not obsessed with sounding practical.