| In a May 1891 letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Mabel Loomis Todd included a poem written about Emily Dickinson by a student at Amherst College: “I enclose a sonnet written to E. D. out of pure enthusiasm by one of our students here.” That student, LeRoy Phillips had written a sonnet in response to reading the first edition of Dickinson’s poetry. It was published in the “Amherst Literary Monthly” in June 1891, and then in the “New England Magazine” in November of that same year. I discussed Phillips’ poem yesterday and the day before. Phillips wasn’t the only one, though, to write a poem in response to Dickinson’s poetry. Author G. E. Meredith also wrote a poem in reaction to reading Dickinson’s first collection of poems published by Todd and HIgginson in 1890. Who was G. E. Meredith? I can’t say I’d ever heard of him. |  |
Info about him on Wikipedia is HERE. This statement from that page certainly caught my eye: “Meredith was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times.”
This too stood out: “His style, in both poetry and prose, was noted for its syntactic complexity; Oscar Wilde likened it to ‘chaos illumined by brilliant flashes of lightning’” (hmm…that line called to mind comments made by former Atlantic Monthly editor Thomas Bailey Aldrich about Dickinson’s poetry when he referred to her work as “poetic chaos” with flashes of brilliance – and he predicted “oblivion” for the Belle of Amherst).
Back to Meredith: He wrote a three-stanza, twelve-line poem about Dickinson which was published in the April 1891 edition of “The Literary Word.” I’m not sure if I’d classify the work as one with “syntactic complexity”; to me, it’s more “syntactic awkwardness.” Before I go on though, take a look at what I have typed out for the poem compared to the pic of the poem. I found the work as published in “The Literary World,” and I typed it from there; however, some of the words were a bit blurry to me. In line 2, does that say “snatch” And toward the end of line 9, is that word “zeal”? (Click the images to enlarge.)
This too stood out: “His style, in both poetry and prose, was noted for its syntactic complexity; Oscar Wilde likened it to ‘chaos illumined by brilliant flashes of lightning’” (hmm…that line called to mind comments made by former Atlantic Monthly editor Thomas Bailey Aldrich about Dickinson’s poetry when he referred to her work as “poetic chaos” with flashes of brilliance – and he predicted “oblivion” for the Belle of Amherst).
Back to Meredith: He wrote a three-stanza, twelve-line poem about Dickinson which was published in the April 1891 edition of “The Literary Word.” I’m not sure if I’d classify the work as one with “syntactic complexity”; to me, it’s more “syntactic awkwardness.” Before I go on though, take a look at what I have typed out for the poem compared to the pic of the poem. I found the work as published in “The Literary World,” and I typed it from there; however, some of the words were a bit blurry to me. In line 2, does that say “snatch” And toward the end of line 9, is that word “zeal”? (Click the images to enlarge.)
 |  |
Well, let’s suppose I have the correct words, what do you think of the poem? I have to say, for a seven-time Nobel Prize nominee – I was not impressed. The poem seems rather sophomoric.
FIRST STANZA: Line 4 reflects that awkward syntax – or is it “complex”? LOL. Plus, I thought “snatch” (if I have that right) was an odd word choice. And what's he trying to say here – that he's giving Dickinson’s work minimal attention – half at best? And the listening and “answer bland” – does this involve listening to and answering his own thoughts? Or listening to and/or answering what…or whom?
SECOND STANZA: Based on the 100-plus selections presented in the first volume of Dickinson’s works, Meredith determined that she seemed “not wholly satisfied” with life? Just FYI, the poems in the collection include such exuberant works as “‘Tis so much joy! ‘Tis so much joy!” “If I can stop one heart from breaking,” “I taste a liquor never brewed,” “If you were coming in the fall,” and “This is the land the sunset washes.”
In line 7 of Meredith’s work, I thought “heartily” was an odd word choice – “more heartily, she died.” However, I suppose that choice as well as line 8, “To die’s the keener in her dreams,” makes some sense since the Dickinson volume also includes poems like “There’s a certain slant of light,” “Safe in their alabaster chambers,” and “Because I could not stop for death.”
THIRD STANZA: With “flagged” in line 9, has Meredith grown weary of poetry in general, and now his “zeal” (in the same line) has renewed? And if so, is this due to his appreciation of Dickinson’s keen eye for celebrating and magnifying the quotidian and mundane – described in line 11 as a “witness to reality”? I’m a bit perplexed by the phantom-terrors – of trivialities? Then that last line – he can live more fully now due to his understanding of Dickinson’s take on death? I think that’s where he might be going with this.
Although the final two lines provide a bit of interest for contemplation and discussion, the bulk of the poem seems awkwardly simple, unsophisticated and confusing.
Any comments or thoughts?
FIRST STANZA: Line 4 reflects that awkward syntax – or is it “complex”? LOL. Plus, I thought “snatch” (if I have that right) was an odd word choice. And what's he trying to say here – that he's giving Dickinson’s work minimal attention – half at best? And the listening and “answer bland” – does this involve listening to and answering his own thoughts? Or listening to and/or answering what…or whom?
SECOND STANZA: Based on the 100-plus selections presented in the first volume of Dickinson’s works, Meredith determined that she seemed “not wholly satisfied” with life? Just FYI, the poems in the collection include such exuberant works as “‘Tis so much joy! ‘Tis so much joy!” “If I can stop one heart from breaking,” “I taste a liquor never brewed,” “If you were coming in the fall,” and “This is the land the sunset washes.”
In line 7 of Meredith’s work, I thought “heartily” was an odd word choice – “more heartily, she died.” However, I suppose that choice as well as line 8, “To die’s the keener in her dreams,” makes some sense since the Dickinson volume also includes poems like “There’s a certain slant of light,” “Safe in their alabaster chambers,” and “Because I could not stop for death.”
THIRD STANZA: With “flagged” in line 9, has Meredith grown weary of poetry in general, and now his “zeal” (in the same line) has renewed? And if so, is this due to his appreciation of Dickinson’s keen eye for celebrating and magnifying the quotidian and mundane – described in line 11 as a “witness to reality”? I’m a bit perplexed by the phantom-terrors – of trivialities? Then that last line – he can live more fully now due to his understanding of Dickinson’s take on death? I think that’s where he might be going with this.
Although the final two lines provide a bit of interest for contemplation and discussion, the bulk of the poem seems awkwardly simple, unsophisticated and confusing.
Any comments or thoughts?
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