The Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum - PLOG: Poetry Blog

Into The Blue

4/19/2021

We visited Shenandoah River State Park last week and walked the Bluebells Trail. The flowers were beautiful, and they seemed to go on for miles. The experience called to mind Emily Dickinson's poem "South winds jostle them" -- and though I "present them here" (i.e., the bluebells), we did not pluck them. We only photographed them.

South Winds jostle them –
Bumblebees come –
Hover – hesitate –
Drink, and are gone –

Butterflies pause
On their passage Cashmere –
I – softly plucking,
Present them here!

Below: The was a short hike to a lookout point where we got a nice view of the southern branch of the Shenandoah River.

A Visit to the Houghton Library -- Part 1

4/19/2021

I attended a virtual tour of the Houghton Library's Emily Dickinson Room/Collection the other night, and that will be the subject of "A Visit to the Houghton Library -- Part 2." I'll post info and pics about that virtual tour soon.

First, though, I thought I would share a funny story about my first (and real) visit to the Dickinson Room back in 2013.

During the summer of that year, my wife and I visited New England, and we spent time in Boston, Amherst (my first visit to Dickinson's Homestead), and the coastline of New Hampshire and Maine. Information about that trip is included in this travelogue, HERE.

We happened to have time during a weekday -- a Tuesday I think -- to take a tour of Harvard, and following that tour I ventured into the Houghton Library. I inquired about the Dickinson collection at the security desk, but the guard told me that the public was only allowed in to see it during specific times (I think it was something like a Friday at 2 p.m.).

I was about to walk away, but I pulled out one of my business cards and handed it to the guard. I explained that I had written a book about Dickinson and asked if they would be willing to bend the rules a bit since it was my one and only time there.

The guard inspected the card and then picked up the telephone to call someone locked away in a staff-only section of the library.

Soon, a woman came out. The guard explained my plight, showed her my card, and she mulled over my request for a bit.

"Sure," she said, "I can show you the room -- but come back at about 2:00 p.m." It was about 10:30 a.m. at the time She then added something like, "I can show you the room at 2:00 -- but only for a few minutes."

I thanked her profusely, and then ran off with my wife to find a restaurant for an early lunch. I figured that we could eat and chat until about 1:30 p.m. or so, and then we'd head back to the Houghton.

While we were eating, I had a terrible thought -- WHAT IF between now and 2:00 p.m. that very librarian were to check out my website dedicated to Emmett Lee Dickinson? After all, the web address was printed on my business card. What if she visited my site and deemed the humor to be too boorish and not deserving of a private tour of the Dickinson room? What if I return to the Houghton, and the woman were to throw me out on my ear for misconduct unbecoming of a true Dickinson fan?

I believe I actually broke out into a sweat and my heart started racing.

After we ate lunch and paid the check, we headed back over to the Houghton. I was a nervous wreck. What sort of reception would I receive?

Well, all the worry was for naught. The staff member greeted me in the lobby and took my wife and I up to the Dickinson for a private showing, and the woman was very gracious. Hee hee -- I don't think she had a chance to look at my site! LOL.

I did send her complimentary copies of my books though, to thank her -- it was very considerate on her part (and the guard too) to accommodate us! The tour was certainly a highlight of our trip!

Jim Crow Lives (in Georgia)

3/30/2021

White racists in Georgia are madder than MAGA insurrectionists beating police officers with flag poles because voters flipped the state Blue when they (a) went for Biden in the 2020 Presidential election and (b) sent Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to the US Senate. Klansmen in the state's legislature responded by passing stringent changes to voting procedures in the state to ensure that they suppress the votes of Blacks and other minority voters. The Jim Crow Era in Georgia is morphing into the Jim Crow Eon.

This treasonous and racist act on the part of Georgia legislators -- committed in broad daylight in front of our entire nation -- inspired us to post Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "Ours -- by the Right of the White Election," below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Mine -- by the Right of the White Election," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Ours – by the Right of the White Election!
Ours – by our Racist Zeal!
Ours – by the Sign of an Ebon ballpoint –
Blacks – cannot appeal!

Ours – here – with Klansmen -- and
with Jim Crow!
Ours – by a Gross Ordeal –
Titled – Confirmed –
Delirious Power!
Ours – with more Votes to steal!

By Emily Dickinson:

Mine – by the Right of the White Election!
Mine – by the Royal Seal!
Mine — by the Sign in the Scarlet prison –
Bars — cannot conceal!

Mine – here – in Vision – and
in Veto!
Mine – by the Grave's Repeal –
Tilted – Confirmed –
Delirious Charter!
Mine – long as Ages steal!

Below left: Klansmen in Georgia's State Legislature witness their racist Governor sign the Jim Crow legislation into law. Below right: A Black state legislator was arrested and led away in cuffs because she dared to knock on the Governor's office door during the signing.

Flower Arrangements

3/23/2021

Spring has sprung! We're in the middle of March Mudness, and the daffodils are in bloom. Three of my favorite poems with daffodils are below:

By Emily Dickinson:

The Skies can't keep their secret!
They tell it to the Hills –
The Hills just tell the Orchards –
And they – the Daffodils!

A Bird – by chance – that goes that way –
Soft overhears the whole –
If I should bribe the little Bird –
Who knows but she would tell?

I think I won't – however –
It's finer – not to know –
If Summer were an Axiom –
What sorcery had Snow?

So keep your secret – Father!
I would not – if I could,
Know what the Sapphire Fellows, do,
In your new-fashioned world!

By E. E. Cummings

in time of daffodils(who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how

in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so(forgetting seem)

in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if,remember yes

in time of all sweet things beyond
whatever mind may comprehend,
remember seek(forgetting find)

and in a mystery to be
(when time from time shall set us free)
forgetting me,remember me

By William Wordsworth:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Cancel Culture

3/20/2021

Our Twitter account was offline for awhile due to this issue:

LOL -- I was suspended for telling a has-been porn star to "jump in the Cement Pond." That's just talk from the Beverly Hillbillies TV show for "swimming pool." And why not? A swimming pool is an expected extension to a tennis pavilion, no?

Anyway, I appealed the ruling but it's been two weeks, and I never heard anything back from Twitter -- so I figured the grifter's third lady just wasn't worth waiting for a response from Twitter so I deleted the tweet. Sooo....now I'm back.

Good for What Ales You

3/17/2021

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In honor of the wearing of the green -- and the drinking of the beer -- we have posted the now-classic poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson about the holiday, "I bring an oft-accustomed ale," below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "I bring an unaccustomed wine," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

I bring an oft-accustomed ale
To lips long parching, dry and frail,
And summon them to drink.

Flowing with flavor, they essay;
I turn my brimming eyes that way
With Happy Hour in sync

The hands still hug the foamy glass;
The lips I have now cooled, at last!
Are so refreshingly cold,

I would as soon attempt to cool
More glasses where the frost does pool
Aged amber brew so bold.

Some others thirsty there may be
To which they all have pointed me
Where I remain to drink.

And so I always bear the stein
If, happily, the beer is mine
Some pilgrim thirst to slake –

If, happily, they say to me,
“Erin go bragh,” unto me
With them I shall partake.

By Emily Dickinson:

I bring an unaccustomed wine
To lips long parching, next to mine,
And summon them to drink.

Crackling with fever, they essay;
I turn my brimming eyes away,
And come next hour to look.

The hands still hug the tardy glass;
The lips I would have cooled, alas!
Are so superfluous cold,

I would as soon attempt to warm
The bosoms where the frost has lain
Ages beneath the mould.

Some other thirsty there may be
To whom this would have pointed me
Had it remained to speak.

And so I always bear the cup
If, haply, mine may be the drop
Some pilgrim thirst to slake –

If, haply, any say to me,
"Unto the little, unto me,"
When I at last awake.

In Toon

3/10/2021

"The Simpsons," the longest running animated TV series in history, was just renewed for two seasons, the 33rd and 34th seasons for the series. Who would have thunk that this would be in case way back in 1990 when the series premiered, after a Christmas special in 1989; however, the origins of the show dates back to an 1853 poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson, "A jaded Boy -- in light blue Shorts," below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "A faded Boy -- in sallow Clothes," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

A jaded Boy – in light blue Shorts
Who said “Don’t have a Cow”
The culture of Experience –
A bad boy’s Here and Now –

The Boy that slang shot to the top –
The Cowabunga kid
Expanded in a Sit-com’s Yarn
A Cash Cow I suspect –

By Emily Dickinson:

A faded Boy – in sallow Clothes
Who drove a lonesome Cow
To pastures of Oblivion –
A statesman's Embryo –

The Boys that whistled are extinct –
The Cows that fed and thanked
Remanded to a Ballad's Barn
Or Clover's Retrospect –

Below left: Matt Groening, creator of "The Simpsons." Below center: The Emmett Lee Dickinson School for Boys in Portland, Oregon -- where Matt Groening attended school -- where Groening first learned Dickinson's poem "A jaded Boy -- in light blue Shorts," the poem which inspired him to create "The Simpsons." Below right: Bart Simpson

Click the images to enlarge.

Coincidentally, I have a collection of old newspapers and magazines, and I found an old TV guide in the stacks that featured a 10th anniversary look at "The Simpsons" from October 2000. There were 24 different covers, and the table of contents of the magazine stated, "TV Guide marks a decade of The Simpsons with a 14-page extravaganza celebrating Springfield's delightful supporting players."

Click the images to enlarge.

It's Getting Messy

3/3/2021

Yes, the Trump Virus is still raging out of control, and the Trump Death Toll is climbing -- but with the Biden vaccination plan was are somewhat close to working our way out of the colossal mess Trump created. Still, GOP politicians across the country are doing what they can to undermine our success -- and just yesterday the Governor of Texas announced that he would rescind the mask mandate, and he re-opened the state 100%.

@stevenbeschloss said on Twitter, "Texas Gov. Abbott’s decision to end the mask mandate and open everything is a reminder of how he and many leaders don’t need Trump to showcase selfishness and indifference toward a rising death count."

@SawyerHackett said, "There was a 300% surge in hospitalizations after Gov. Abbott prematurely reopened Texas in May—and we kept the mask mandate! We were at 5,000 new cases a day then. Now we’re at 7,500 cases per day, and he’s reopening businesses at 100% capacity and rescinding the mask mandate."

The decision also called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "The Opening of the Closed," below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "The Opening and the Close," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The Opening of the Closed
Up Texas, is a bit
Or somewhat, premature,
As Raw just off the Spit.

That from an equal Flame
Beneath an equal Beef
Goes not so well, affected
If on the grill too brief.

By Emily Dickinson:

The Opening and the Close
Of Being, are alike
Or differ, if they do,
As Bloom upon a Stalk.

That from an equal Seed
Unto an equal Bud
Go parallel, perfected
In that they have decayed.

March On

3/1/2021

Is it really March already? What the heck happened to January and February?

Don't get me wrong, I look forward to the warmer weather ahead since we've all spent way too much time inside due to the winter weather -- and the continuing devastation brought on by the Trump Virus.

So -- as spring approaches -- I have posted Emily Dickinson's "Dear March -- Come in" below, along with some final pics from our recent winter storm.

By Emily Dickinson:

Dear March – Come in –
How glad I am –
I hoped for you before –

Put down your Hat –
You must have walked –
How out of Breath you are –
Dear March, Come right up the stairs with me –
I have so much to tell –

I got your Letter, and the Birds –
The Maples never knew that you were coming – till I called
I declare – how Red their Faces grew –
But March, forgive me – and
All those Hills you left for me to Hue –
There was no Purple suitable –
You took it all with you –

Who knocks? That April.
Lock the Door –
I will not be pursued –
He stayed away a Year to call
When I am occupied –
But trifles look so trivial
As soon as you have come

That Blame is just as dear as Praise
And Praise as mere as Blame –

Cast A Spell

2/27/2021

The groundbreaking text English Language Spelling and Mechanics Simplified (at the right) by Otto Korecht and Anita Spelchyk, the inspiration for The Elements of Style, composed by William Strunk and revised and enlarged by E. B. White, was almost never written -- because the two lovers had quite a falling out early in their relationship due to a miscommunication with a message Korecht sent Spelchyk.

Korecht met Spelchyk in 1853 at the North American Grammar Rodeo in Chug Water, Wyoming, and it was love at fight sight. At that time, Korecht told Spelchyk about a type of telegraph he was developing called the Self-Correcting Orthographic Letter Detector. His device, he told her, would automatically correct misspellings when individuals sent messages to each other.

Below left: Anita Spelchyk with Otto Korecht's Self-Correcting Orthographic Letter Detector. Below right: Otto Korecht with his invention.

When the Grammar Rodeo concluded, Korecht convinced Spelchyk to take one of his devices home with her to Coxsackie, NY, and then he would send messages to her from his home in Wapakoneta, OH.

Unfortunately, when Korecht typed out his first message of “good morning” to Ms. Spelchyk, the self-correcting telegraph changed the greeting to “Good Moaning.” Ms. Spelchyk was incensed by Korecht’s off-color remark when it come over the telegraph, so she did not reply.

After hours passed with no response from Spelchyk, Korecht reviewed the message he had sent only to discover what the machine had substituted for his intended communication. He was so flustered, he began to strike frantically at the keys to send Ms. Spelchyk the message, “OOPS!” Once again, though, the self-correcting mechanism misunderstood Korecht’s intent, and the device changed his message to “BOOBS! Korecht dispatched the message before he realized that the machine had once again altered his text, and Spelchyk received the offensive remark.

Korecht was so flustered when he discovered what had happened, he threw out the prototype of his Self-Correcting Orthographic Letter Detector, and he jumped on the next available stage coach to Coxsackie. When he arrived three weeks later, he was able to explain what had happened, and he apologized to Ms. Spelchyk.

Fortunately, Korecht never saw Spelchyk’s return message, “Forget You,” which she typed back to him in a blind rage. Interestingly enough, as she slapped at the keys, the telegraph changed her message to….

Well, it doesn’t really matter what the modified message was, because Korecht and Spelchyk patched things up, married just months later, and together they went on to publish their seminal work, English Language Spelling and Mechanics Simplified.

Below left: Otto Korecht and Anita Spelchyk shortly after their wedding in 1854. Below right: Kroecht and Spelchyk in 1884.

Emmett Lee Dickinson wrote a short poem about Otto Korecht's first telegraphed message to Anita Spelchyk called "'Morns like these' -- I texted," below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired his third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Morns like these -- we parted," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

"Morns like these” – I texted –
“Moans like these” – she saw –
Blushing at first – then flustered
There came no response.

Never did she grasp it –
That was not from me –
She – was mute from worry –
I – was panicky –

Till – the error dawning
What the spell check drew –
Quick! A re-worked comment!
And my update flew!

By Emily Dickinson:

Morns like these – we parted –
Noons like these – she rose –
Fluttering first – then firmer
To her fair repose.

Never did she lisp it –
It was not for me –
She – was mute from transport –
I – from agony –

Till - the evening nearing
One the curtains drew –
Quick! A sharper rustling!
And this linnet flew!