Okay, let's be honest with one another. I'm just going to get it right out there in the open:
I DO NOT LIKE EMILY DICKINSON!
I guess I should clarify my statement. Of course, I've never actually met the woman. She was born in 1830 and died in 1886 - a little before my time {by, like, 100 years}!
But I have met her work, and it is not for me.
Before you all get your virtual pitchforks out, let me first state that I am in no way saying that Dickinson wasn't a good writer. She obviously knew how to write poetry. Her body of work has endured for over a century. There is certainly talent behind something with that much staying power. I am capable of appreciating that, as well as her zealous use of my favorite literary device: the metaphor!
What I don't appreciate, though, is her free form, simple language, death-y {No, it isn't a real word - But it is soooo necessary here!} poetry. I crave the strict forms, predictable meters, and ridiculous verbosity of old, old-school poems. I actually prefer a poem that seems really difficult to understand, but is actually discussing a simple topic VS. Dickinson's seems-really-simple-to-understand-but-is-actually-an-uber-complex-concept! But I digress...
I will give Emily this, though. People the world over seem to adore her. Some of them love her for the very reasons I just told you that I hate her.
To prove this point, I made a little internet trip over to faithful Pinterest and typed in "Emily Dickinson." You know what I got in return? A seemingly endless amount of results in the form of pictures, quotes, books, and even tattoo ideas! {Really, people? Dickinson forever etched into your skin? MEH!}
I guess what I'm getting at is that every reader loves or hates something different... And that's okay!
You know:
... Different books for different cooks?!
... Different reads for different breeds?!
Maybe not.
{READ ON anyhow!}
I won't lie and say I didn't laugh. I did. This post made me laugh so much because it reminded me if a rant my friend would make and it brought back a lot of memories.
ReplyDeleteBut I have to agree. Emily Dickinson isn't for everyone. I was more fond of it then you it seems but it still wasn't a good enough work of art to make me get a tattoo of it on me.
Do people really get tattoos of her or her work on them? Never mind, that must be a silly question because there are some people that get the strangest things tattooed on their body. Not that I'm against it. I just like pretty tattoos.
This made me LOL a few times, Ashley. I have to agree about the meter she uses, however, reading the poetry aloud sounded better to me than it did in my head. And yes. Old Emily Dickinson's work is very macabre. At the same time (and I'm sure the Prof. Siemens would agree that I'm fixated on this theory), I feel like there were some definite mental problems going on in Emily's noodle. I went to dinner with a friend tonight and we were talking about her (because I am a nerd) and she told me Emily Dickinson was agoraphobic. Of course, I don't know if that is true or not--at least I have not seen it--but it totally makes sense reading the works of such an introvert and recluse like Miss Dickinson.
ReplyDeleteOn a different note...Emily Dickinson tatoos??
Like we talked about on Blackboard, I have to respectfully disagree. I do like that you acknowledged she was a great writer, though. But to crave a definite form? To each her own. I've always been attracted to the way she broke form, and was able to transverse entire worlds within her verse. Form for the sake of form does not justice; poetry to that degree is an over glorified rip off of Hallmark. That so many (not you, of course, given you have studied poetry a bit, but those whom do not read poetry) think one *must* stick to form is disconcerting. Meter is nice, and I do not doubt one may find freedom in prescribed forms. Yet that Emily broke form and was able to pack so a punch is telling. If poetry is purest expression of words, the soul itself singing onto the page, then Emily was in a league of her own, waiting for the men to catch up. If only her personal life was not so dreary. "There is no frigate like a book..."
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