Spring is the season of hope, and of course, that calls to mind the phrase “hope springs eternal.”
That phrase comes from poet Alexander Pope's 1732 poem “An Essay on Man,” where he wrote, "Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” 130 years later, Emily Dickinson’ wrote, “’Hope’ is the thing with feathers / That perches in the soul.”
How many poems did Dickinson write that include the word “hope”?
Well, that depends.
If you run a search on the word “hope” on the online Dickinson archive, 94 entries pop up, and those entries represent 35 poems. However, in one of those poems, ‘Who never wanted maddest joy,” the word “hope” was an alternative word choice for Dickinson (for the word “reach”), and it appears only in the 1891 “Second Series” of Dickinson’s “Poems.” In all other editions of her poetry, the word “hope” not included in that poem.
That phrase comes from poet Alexander Pope's 1732 poem “An Essay on Man,” where he wrote, "Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” 130 years later, Emily Dickinson’ wrote, “’Hope’ is the thing with feathers / That perches in the soul.”
How many poems did Dickinson write that include the word “hope”?
Well, that depends.
If you run a search on the word “hope” on the online Dickinson archive, 94 entries pop up, and those entries represent 35 poems. However, in one of those poems, ‘Who never wanted maddest joy,” the word “hope” was an alternative word choice for Dickinson (for the word “reach”), and it appears only in the 1891 “Second Series” of Dickinson’s “Poems.” In all other editions of her poetry, the word “hope” not included in that poem.
“Who never wanted maddest Joy” is also unusual in that **drum roll** it uses the word “abstemiousness.” LOL – that’s not a word you hear every day! And get this – “abstemious” appears in two other Dickinson poems: “Partake as doth the Bee” (abstemiously) and “Rather arid delight” (abstemious).
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Then, just this morning, I was reading the Introduction to “Critical Companion to Emily Dickinson, A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work,” and whaddaya know – there’s that word, “abstemiousness”:
“Dickinson’s preeminent place in world literature rests, not merely on the sheer scope of her work— almost 1,800 poems, including more great poems than any other American poet before or since—but on its depth and breadth. She has been seen as the great poet of unfulfilled longing, of expectation that never attains its object, a misfortune she transformed into the blessing of ‘sumptuous destitution,’ a ‘Banquet of Abstemiousness.’ Yet this sense of a reality that must always fall short of desire and imagination was but one aspect of her vision.”
Hmm…I couldn’t help but think of the line “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death” from the 1958 play and movie “Auntie Mame” by Jerome Lawrence (and made famous by Rosalind Russell's portrayal of Mame Dennis in the movie).
So back to where I started – with spring as a season of hope: I hope your spring offers a banquet of indulgence or abstemiousness – whichever you are hoping for! ; )
“Dickinson’s preeminent place in world literature rests, not merely on the sheer scope of her work— almost 1,800 poems, including more great poems than any other American poet before or since—but on its depth and breadth. She has been seen as the great poet of unfulfilled longing, of expectation that never attains its object, a misfortune she transformed into the blessing of ‘sumptuous destitution,’ a ‘Banquet of Abstemiousness.’ Yet this sense of a reality that must always fall short of desire and imagination was but one aspect of her vision.”
Hmm…I couldn’t help but think of the line “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death” from the 1958 play and movie “Auntie Mame” by Jerome Lawrence (and made famous by Rosalind Russell's portrayal of Mame Dennis in the movie).
So back to where I started – with spring as a season of hope: I hope your spring offers a banquet of indulgence or abstemiousness – whichever you are hoping for! ; )
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