Thursday, May 12, 2005

Back at Last!

"Nature is a Haunted House but Art -- a House that tries to be haunted." -- Emily Dickinson

Greetings faithful readers! Sorry to have neglected posting for so many weeks. For three weeks in late March and early April I was on the jury for a rather gruesome murder trial here in DC. It was a fascinating experience and I am glad to have done my civic duty, but it was tiring and emotionally draining. I have spent the weeks since getting my equilibrium back, plus playing catch up at work!

I have been reading an excellent book, Emily Dickinson: An Interpretive Biography, by Thomas Johnson, the scholar to whom we owe an enormous debt of gratitude for collecting and editing her poems fully and in their proper form. Originally published in 1955, it is now out of print. However, I was able to secure a copy of the 1976 paperback edition for a very modest price. I highly recommend it -- Dickinson is perhaps the greatest (or co-greatest with Whitman) american poet, and her aesthetic, well described and analyzed by Prof. Johnson, comes very close in many places to my own.

More soon!

2 Comments:

Blogger Kat said...

Welcome back! We missed you! Emily Dickinson was the first poet with whom I found a connection way back when-you know, when they used to force feed Longfellow and Whittier.Bouncing around my head are assorted lines from her poetry as it had such an impact.

12:02 PM  
Blogger Heather Brooks said...

Which murder was this?

10:23 PM  

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