Because I Could Not Stop -- Part 1

Someone asked recently how I got so involved/intrigued with the poetry of Emily Dickinson.  My interest dates back to the 8th grade when we were studying poetry, and we began with a look at the lyrics of Beatles’ songs.  LOL – the Beatles were still a group at that point – and I thought it was so cool we were analyzing their lyrics.

Then one morning, the teacher recited “Because I could not stop for Death,” and I think my head exploded (Interestingly, I later found out that Dickinson once wrote, “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry”  – so obviously, I knew I was hearing great poetry). 

We also looked at some poems by E. E. Cummings, and I was fascinated with how the words and phrases were sliced, twisted and turned to make new meanings.  I loved word puzzles, and my favorite books at the time were from the “Encyclopedia Brown” series – so I loved figuring out crimes, mysteries, riddles – and poems. 

I remember the next Dickinson poem we studied was “After great pain, a formal feeling comes” – and the concept of time slowing down and the image of “This is the hour of lead” just blew me away!

Later, as an adult, I started writing parodies of Dickinson’s poems – my first was “After formal feedings, a great pain comes" (pictured at the right), and I invented the persona of Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request) and I started this site back in 2012.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

When/how did you first encounter Dickinson?