Posted on December 10, 2019 at 8:26 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Emily Dickinson, one of the greatest American poets, was born on this day in 1830.
Appropriately for one who wielded the language with such skill and innovation, Dickinson praised the power of words and literature in her works, too.
To wit, here are a few lines from her letters and poems from her.
* * *
“But a Book is only the Heart's Portrait- every Page a Pulse.”
* * *
“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.”
* * *
“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.”
* * *
“A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.”
* * *
“There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears a Human soul.”
* * *
“The dearest ones of time, the strongest friends of the soul--BOOKS.”
* * *
“He ate and drank the precious words,
His spirit grew robust;
He knew no more that he was poor,
Nor that his frame was dust.
He danced along the dingy days,
And this bequest of wings
Was but a book. What liberty
A loosened spirit brings!”
* * *
“A Word that Breathes Distinctly
Has not the Power to Die”
* * *
“A precious mouldering pleasure 't is
To meet an antique book,
In just the dress his century wore;
A privilege, I think,
His venerable hand to take,
And warming in our own,
A passage back, or two, to make
To times when he was young.
His quaint opinions to inspect,
His knowledge to unfold
On what concerns our mutual mind.
The literature of old;
What interested scholars most,
What competitions ran
When Plato was a certainty,
And Sophocles a man;
When Sappho was a living girl,
And Beatrice wore
The gown that Dante deified.
Facts, centuries before,
He traverses familiar,
As one should come to town
And tell you all your dreams were true:
He lived where dreams were born.
His presence is enchantment,
You beg him not to go;
Old volumes shake their vellum heads
And tantalize just so.”
* * *
Related posts