(SCROLL DOWN FOR PART 2)
In recognition of the 138th anniversary of the death of Emily Dickinson on May 15th, I’ve started posting some of my favorites of her poems about death and grief. Yesterday I posted “Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee,” a short and shadowy poem that more than hints at necromania.
My original plan for today was to move on to another poem, but look at this site I stumbled upon yesterday, “Emily Dickinson Riddles.”
Click the pic below to access the site:
In recognition of the 138th anniversary of the death of Emily Dickinson on May 15th, I’ve started posting some of my favorites of her poems about death and grief. Yesterday I posted “Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee,” a short and shadowy poem that more than hints at necromania.
My original plan for today was to move on to another poem, but look at this site I stumbled upon yesterday, “Emily Dickinson Riddles.”
Click the pic below to access the site:
This site is a blog where the writer responds to all of Dickinson’s poems as if they were riddles (yes, some are – but all of them?).
In this case – for “Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee” – he “solves” the “riddle” by interpreting this poem as the story of Faust.
Beneath each poem, as with this one, he analyzes words, phrases or images line by line and explains how they fit into the riddle.
Again, in this case, concerning line 4, “That none can understand,” the blogger noted, “Faust wanted to ‘learn what it is that holds the world together in its inmost core,’ (Faust: A Dramatic Poem By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1859 Boston, the same version in Dickinson's family library). Mephistopheles was supposed to show Faust the world's ‘inmost core ' that none can understand.”
In this case – for “Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee” – he “solves” the “riddle” by interpreting this poem as the story of Faust.
Beneath each poem, as with this one, he analyzes words, phrases or images line by line and explains how they fit into the riddle.
Again, in this case, concerning line 4, “That none can understand,” the blogger noted, “Faust wanted to ‘learn what it is that holds the world together in its inmost core,’ (Faust: A Dramatic Poem By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1859 Boston, the same version in Dickinson's family library). Mephistopheles was supposed to show Faust the world's ‘inmost core ' that none can understand.”
That bit of trivia, “the same version in Dickinson’s family library,” intrigued me, so I decided to look up Goethe’s “Faust: A Dramatic Poem.” Whoa – what a “poem”!
| I first found it on Amazon, and this “reproduction of the original artefact (sic),” is listed as 476 pages! LOL – obviously this is not a “poem” which I can post a screenshot! Next, I actually found the entire work online where one can read it for free, HERE. I scrolled down to page 34 and read a bit of the “Prologue in Heaven” – the writing is so grandiloquent and Wagnerian – and (appropriately so) – look at this info I found: “The first operatic version of Goethe's Faust, by Louis Spohr, appeared in 1814. The work subsequently inspired operas and oratorios by Schumann, Berlioz, Gounod, Boito, Busoni and Schnittke, as well as symphonic works by Liszt, Wagner and Mahler.” |  |
The story proper then starts further down on page 39.
Okay, so back to the site devoted to “Dickinson’s Riddles”:
It’s a fun site with an interesting premise; however, if you take time to peruse some of the other "solutions" to the "riddles," you'll find that some of them misfire -- or "don't stick the landing," as they say!
I'll provide a couple of examples tomorrow.
Okay, so back to the site devoted to “Dickinson’s Riddles”:
It’s a fun site with an interesting premise; however, if you take time to peruse some of the other "solutions" to the "riddles," you'll find that some of them misfire -- or "don't stick the landing," as they say!
I'll provide a couple of examples tomorrow.
PART 2:
In recognition of the 138th anniversary of the death of Emily Dickinson on May 15th, I started posting some of my favorites of her poems about death and grief, and the first I posted was “Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee,” a short and shadowy poem that more than hints at necromania.
My original plan was to move on to other poems, but yesterday I veered off the path when I stumbled upon a blog called “Emily Dickinson Riddles.” The writer interprets all (or at least most) of Dickinson’s poems as riddles to be solved. His solution to the “riddle” of “Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee” was the story of Faust.
I concluded yesterday’s post with this observation: “Dickinson Riddles” is a “fun site with an interesting premise; however, if you take time to peruse some of the other ‘solutions’ to the ‘riddles,’ you'll find that some of them misfire -- or ‘don't stick the landing,’ as they say!”
I give two examples:
In recognition of the 138th anniversary of the death of Emily Dickinson on May 15th, I started posting some of my favorites of her poems about death and grief, and the first I posted was “Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee,” a short and shadowy poem that more than hints at necromania.
My original plan was to move on to other poems, but yesterday I veered off the path when I stumbled upon a blog called “Emily Dickinson Riddles.” The writer interprets all (or at least most) of Dickinson’s poems as riddles to be solved. His solution to the “riddle” of “Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee” was the story of Faust.
I concluded yesterday’s post with this observation: “Dickinson Riddles” is a “fun site with an interesting premise; however, if you take time to peruse some of the other ‘solutions’ to the ‘riddles,’ you'll find that some of them misfire -- or ‘don't stick the landing,’ as they say!”
I give two examples:
| 1. While exploring the site, I clicked on “Person” on the top banner and discovered the blogger’s list of ED’s “riddle” poems about people. I clicked on “One Sister have I in our house,” and the blogger “solved” the riddle of this poem by stating that it was about “Lavinia and poetry.” The first few lines of the poem are as follows: One Sister have I in our house, And one, a hedge away. There's only one recorded, But both belong to me. |  |
In his analysis, he states the following: “[Line 1] Sister:: Dickinson's sister Lavinia Dickinson. [Line 3] only one recorded:: the other is not a person, but poetry.” The complete interpretation is HERE.
Hmm. Most interpret this poem about Dickinson’s sister, Lavinia, and her sister-in-law, Sue, who literally lived “a hedge away” in the house next door. Dickinson described the path between the two houses as “just wide enough for two who love.”
Hmm. Most interpret this poem about Dickinson’s sister, Lavinia, and her sister-in-law, Sue, who literally lived “a hedge away” in the house next door. Dickinson described the path between the two houses as “just wide enough for two who love.”
| 2. I also clicked on “Shakespeare,” another category on the site’s top banner. Again, a list popped up – those poems which “solve” Dickinson’s “riddles” related to Shakespeare – and I ran a word-search on the word “Tempest.” Two poems were included: “Glee, the great storm is over” and “It is a lonesome glee.” What surprised me was that one particular poem by Dickinson with a various obvious connection to “The Tempest” was not on the list, “An awful tempest mashed the air.” |  |
Okay, so I went to the site’s master index of ED poems, and I ran the word search again for “Tempest,” and voila – there it was! However, instead of relating the poem to Shakespeare, he interpreted the poem as an attack by a Black Bear. The complete interpretation is HERE.
Obviously, poetry is open to interpretation, so I’m not saying that the poem does not suggest an attack by a bear; I just wonder if the blogger even considered it as a (connection) to Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”
Not only does Dickinson mention the title of the play in the poem’s first line, it also gives a depiction of a turbulent storm, and the final stanza seems to suggest some of the play’s plot points.
Still, “Dickinson’s Riddles” is a fun site, and I could see it being used with students to discuss how poetry is and can be interpreted.
Obviously, poetry is open to interpretation, so I’m not saying that the poem does not suggest an attack by a bear; I just wonder if the blogger even considered it as a (connection) to Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”
Not only does Dickinson mention the title of the play in the poem’s first line, it also gives a depiction of a turbulent storm, and the final stanza seems to suggest some of the play’s plot points.
Still, “Dickinson’s Riddles” is a fun site, and I could see it being used with students to discuss how poetry is and can be interpreted.
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