We are just wrapping up one of my absolute favorite literature studies in American Literature; The Transcendentalists and Naturalists. We’ve moved through Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller, Hawthorn, and Longfellow. We viewed one of my all time favorite films, “Dead Poet’s Society”. And yesterday, I introduced my students to the mysterious woman that was Emily Dickinson. We watched a short biography narrative that provided some background on which we could build some understanding as to what “drove” her writing. Her pieces in our Anthology are some of her more famous works, but definitely not easy pieces to digest. Her heavy handed use of dashes, precise language, unexpected metaphor usage, and random meter and rhyme perplexed my students, but I dare say it is a bit fun for me to “dissect” her poems.
Ms. Dickinson wrote about what to do with life while you have it and also how she felt about inescapable death. Though I don’t particularly care for her works in general (yes, students I did just say that), I can appreciate her perspective. And, I think there is something we can all learn from her “Letters To The World”.
Here is an example of just one of her works that I love…for its simple, yet profound, truth.
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