Although April is 'National Poetry Month' in the United States, few Americans read and fewer ever attempt to write poetry. That is unfortunate. Poetry is a timeless language of the 'soul' - a mysterious place between the heart and the mind - and should be considered a necessary component any education. No other form or medium is capable of distilling both the dimensions of the human condition and the fleeting character of life into an efficient body of transcendent words . In reading or writing only a few lines, poetry can inspire, impart compassion or offer solace to its seekers..
Beyond the personal realm, some have argued for poetry to be included in civic life as well. Four years prior to his historic election to the presidency, John F. Kennedy stated in a commencement address, 'if more politicians knew poetry, and more poets knew politics, I am convinced the world would be a better place to live'.
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For the largely uninitiated, it is particularly difficult to decide upon a starting point. Should a newcomer to the world of poetry begin with one of the famous sonnets of Shakespeare, the French romantic poetry of Arthur Rimbaud or perhaps an ancient classic from Aeschylus?
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While any of these famous poets would serve well, the verse of Emily Dickinson (1830-86) is particularly well-suited to attract new readers to the genre due to its 'modern' appeal and accessibility. On a biographical note, Emily Dickinson, a native of Amherst, Massachusetts, spent her entire life tending to a flower garden and writing poems in the seclusion of her room. From her writings, a wise and sophisticated human being (and woman) emerges - replete with conflicting desires, moments of melancholia and an abiding passion for life itself.
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The following two poems by Dickinson revolve around the common themes of love and loss. As commentary tends to detract rather than add to great works of literature, only two definitional footnotes have been included for reference.
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Poem #1
You left me, sweet, two legacies
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You left me, sweet, two legacies
A legacy of love
A Heavenly Father would content
Had He the offer of
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You left me boundaries of pain
Capacious as the sea
Between eternity and time
Your consciousness and me
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Poem #2
If you were coming in the fall
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If you were coming in the fall
I'd brush the summer by
with half a smile and half a spurn
as housewives do a fly
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If I could see you in a year
I'd wind the months into balls
And put them into separate drawers
until their time befalls
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If only centuries delayed
I'd count them on my hand
subtracting till my fingers dropped
Into Van Diemen's land
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If certain, when this life was out
That yours and mine should be
I'd toss it yonder like a rind
And taste eternity
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But now, all ignorant of the length
of time's uncertain wing
It goads me, like a goblin bee
That will not state its sting
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Notes
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1. 'Van Diemen's land': the former name of Tasmania
2. 'rind': a piece of tree bark
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These poems on the dual character of love (joy and pain) and the pangs of lost or unrealized love (poem #2) serve to prove two timeless truths. Poetry is a worthwhile endeavor as a reader or a writer, and - Emily Dickinson has a beautiful soul.
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Thank you, Emily.
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(Picture: Emily Dickinson)
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J Roquen