“If the word 'great' means anything in poetry, this poem is one of the greatest in the English language.”
 | A recent post of mine included that statement. Do you recall the poem to which it refers? If not, I’ll remind you momentarily. (HINT: It’s a poem written by Emily Dickinson.) BUT . . . (and yes, I like big “BUTs” and I cannot lie.) . . . when I read that statement, I hopped onto Google and ran a search on “what are the greatest poems of all time” just to see if the poem in question would be there. The first response is this one from Google's AI Overview: |
Sooo…that list does, indeed, include a work by Dickinson, but not the particular poem in question.
I also received a link to this site’s list of “best poems”:
I also received a link to this site’s list of “best poems”:
Hmm…the list is from a "society of classical poets” – I like that. I don’t see Dickinson’s picture there – I don’t like that. So what did they proclaim as “the greatest”?
Note – the assemblage is “An Ambitious ‘Best Poems’ List Limited to Poems Originally Written in English and of 50 Lines or Less.”
Are you ready? Here 'tis (how’s that for being all poetical):
Note – the assemblage is “An Ambitious ‘Best Poems’ List Limited to Poems Originally Written in English and of 50 Lines or Less.”
Are you ready? Here 'tis (how’s that for being all poetical):
| 10. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost 9. “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus 8. “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley 7. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats 6. “The Tiger” by William Blake | 5. “On His Blindness” by John Milton 4. “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 3. “Daffodils” by William Wordsworth 2. “Death, Be Not Proud” by John Donne 1. “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare |
I. WAS. STUNNED.
Not only is the poem in question absent from the list (found HERE), the inventory is completely void of any work by Dickinson. Fortunately, I was near a fainting couch, so when I collapsed, I was not injured.
 |  |
Because I could not catch my breath, I saw a certain slant of light and headed toward it – but I could not see to see. ’Twas tho’ my entire being was as an ear – and I, and Silence, some strange race – until there interposed this blue, uncertain stumbling buzz. My nerves sat ceremonious – as if attending an Aztec heart extraction. Was it they – that bore this – list – from centuries before?
Fortunately, my wife responded quickly with ammonia inhalants and Spirit of Hartshorn – Mercifully, ’twas not death – for I stood up.
I was in a stupor, though. My eyes – I had wrung them dry – and my breaths gathered firm for one last witness – of the compilation on my screen –
I kept reading - reading - till it seemed that Sense was breaking through –
And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing –
And then – the letting go.
This was, indeed, the hour of lead.
Then – I paused before a comment that caused a swelling in my mood:
Fortunately, my wife responded quickly with ammonia inhalants and Spirit of Hartshorn – Mercifully, ’twas not death – for I stood up.
I was in a stupor, though. My eyes – I had wrung them dry – and my breaths gathered firm for one last witness – of the compilation on my screen –
I kept reading - reading - till it seemed that Sense was breaking through –
And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing –
And then – the letting go.
This was, indeed, the hour of lead.
Then – I paused before a comment that caused a swelling in my mood:
I felt a Cleaving in my Mind – as if my Brain had split. I tried to match it – the comment to the list – but could not make them fit. The list behind – I strove to join unto the comment made -- But Sequence raveled out of hand – with all the poems displayed.
For now, I shall put myself on low-power mode and disconnect. I intend to remain horizontal for some time. Do not send help unless snacks are involved.
For now, I shall put myself on low-power mode and disconnect. I intend to remain horizontal for some time. Do not send help unless snacks are involved.
By the way: The poem in question is "Because I could not stop for Death," discussed in this post, HERE.
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