A Reels caught my attention the other day about Sir Charles Lyell, a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known today for his association with Charles Darwin and as the author of Principles of Geology, a text published in 1830.
The video is HERE.
So what was it that caught my eye?
The year 1830. That’s the year Emily Dickinson was born – and Dickinson was fascinated with geology.
Dickinson studied geology at Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, where she encountered the work of geologist Edward Hitchcock, an American geologist and – are you ready for this? – the third President of Amherst College.
Here is info from the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst:
“Famed geologist Dr. Edward Hitchcock became President of Amherst College during Dickinson’s years at Amherst Academy, and the school used his Elementary Geology as a textbook. Hitchcock’s discussions of volcanoes, fossils, and rock formations would provide powerful vocabulary for Dickinson’s poetry. Academy students were permitted to attend lectures at Amherst College, and it is likely Emily Dickinson did so. Dickinson’s poetry has a far richer scientific vocabulary than many of her contemporaries, and her years at Amherst Academy were surely a source of that knowledge and interest.”
The video is HERE.
So what was it that caught my eye?
The year 1830. That’s the year Emily Dickinson was born – and Dickinson was fascinated with geology.
Dickinson studied geology at Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, where she encountered the work of geologist Edward Hitchcock, an American geologist and – are you ready for this? – the third President of Amherst College.
Here is info from the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst:
“Famed geologist Dr. Edward Hitchcock became President of Amherst College during Dickinson’s years at Amherst Academy, and the school used his Elementary Geology as a textbook. Hitchcock’s discussions of volcanoes, fossils, and rock formations would provide powerful vocabulary for Dickinson’s poetry. Academy students were permitted to attend lectures at Amherst College, and it is likely Emily Dickinson did so. Dickinson’s poetry has a far richer scientific vocabulary than many of her contemporaries, and her years at Amherst Academy were surely a source of that knowledge and interest.”
 | In the coming days I'll share a poem or two by Dickinson with imagery of volcanoes, rocks, mountains, and/or other geological features. For today, here’s “The reticent volcano keeps,” a contemplative poem about secrecy, the power of nature, and humanity's yearning for understanding (and – LOL – I’ll admit, the second stanza called to mind that old philosophical question, “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"). Also, here’s a fun, short article that poses the question, “Was Poet Emily Dickinson a closet geologist?” It states, “the concepts and imagery of geology in (Dickinson’s) works astonished Michele Aldrich, a historian of geology at Cornell University.” Take a look, HERE. |
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