Recently, through a bit of word association, I’ve shared some of Dickinson’s poems which include the words “house,” “door,” and/or “window” – but what about the word “home”? Did Dickinson use “house” more often or “home”?
I shared stats regarding the word “house” on May 30th, HERE …and the word “house” appears in 79 different poems.And “home”?
When you search the word “home” on the online Dickinson Archive, 235 entries pop up, and that represents 94 different poems – so Dickinson used the word “home” in more poems than “house.”
Today I’m sharing a poem that opens with a very famous line from Dickinson, “Where Thou art – that – is Home.”
I shared stats regarding the word “house” on May 30th, HERE …and the word “house” appears in 79 different poems.And “home”?
When you search the word “home” on the online Dickinson Archive, 235 entries pop up, and that represents 94 different poems – so Dickinson used the word “home” in more poems than “house.”
Today I’m sharing a poem that opens with a very famous line from Dickinson, “Where Thou art – that – is Home.”
 | There is quite a detailed analysis of this poem – its structure and themes – HERE. Before the commentator gets into his line-by-line analysis, he states the following: “David Preest points out that this poem has a tightly organized structure: "‘Where Thou art’ is described in five lines, and then ‘What thou dost’ in five lines. In the contrasting last stanza ‘Where thou art not’ and ‘What thou dost not’ get two lines each.” It is fascinating to see the structures Dickinson invented upon which to hang her thoughts. I also like the subtle distinction Dickinson makes in this poem between Being (Thou art) and Doing (Thou dost).” |
Then, after his analysis, the author adds this post script:
P.S. The focus on being and doing in this poem reminded me of this great Kurt Vonnegut quote:
“To be is to do - Socrates
To do is to be - Sartre
Do Be Do Be Do - Sinatra”
P.S. The focus on being and doing in this poem reminded me of this great Kurt Vonnegut quote:
“To be is to do - Socrates
To do is to be - Sartre
Do Be Do Be Do - Sinatra”
| I couldn’t help myself. I added my two-cents with this: "Concerning the 'P.S. The focus on being and doing in this poem': that reminded me of 'The Simpsons,' S5E7: 'Bart's Inner Child': Self-help Guru Brad Goodman: 'You see, folks? We're all trying to please someone else. And as soon as you're not a human being, you're a human doing. Then what comes next?' Bart Simpson: 'A human going!'" |  And with that -- I gotta go! Things to be...and do. ; ) |
RSS Feed
