Yesterday I wrote about Frank Lloyd Wright’s love of cows and Emily Dickinson’s poetry on cows (there are two poems which use the word “cow”). On a whim, I then ran a search on “Did Emily Dickinson ever write about cows?” TBH, I was wondering if anything would pop up about any letters where she might have written to someone about cows. The pic below shows the results:
Hmm...
Looks like AI missed entirely her poem “A faded boy in sallow clothes,” which includes the word “cow” in lines 2 and 6.
Looks like AI missed entirely her poem “A faded boy in sallow clothes,” which includes the word “cow” in lines 2 and 6.
Interestingly, the summary did include “They called me to the Window,” a poem which does not use the word “cow”; however, it does contain the word “cattle.”
 | LOL – I never thought to search for the word cattle on the Dickinson archive. However, I will say that AI jumbled the poem’s number. In the Johnson edition it is poem 628, in Franklin it is number 589. Therefore, the “J589” showing on my search results should either be “J628” or “F589” (the number shown for “The Clover’s simple Fame” is correct). Concerning this poem, check out a bit of trivia I found on the Emily Dickinson Museum site: “The poem is reminiscent of this 1856 piece Sunset with Cows, by John Kensett. Barton Levi St. Armand suggests Dickinson may have found inspiration in the painting after its acquisition by her brother and sister-in-law, Austin and Susan Dickinson. Their daughter Martha Dickinson Bianchi recalls that Dickinson often visited The |
Evergreens to see new artwork: ‘Sue and Emily were the first to peep at each [painting], propped up against a chair to catch the best light. A picture in itself, those three standing there, Austin and Sue flushed and excited, Emily reveling in a new emotion of color as she gazed.’”
The ED Museum site also includes this about the painting:
“‘Sunset with Cows’ – with its boldly colored sky and mirroring waters – exemplifies Kensett’s luminist style. Kensett was part of the Hudson River School, which romanticized the American landscape by depicting a sublime wilderness while excluding the presence of Indigenous peoples. As the new American art scene gained popularity, the literary scene simultaneously flourished. Susan Dickinson may have chosen the piece (as suggested by her initials on the back of the painting) to complement her salons, which featured literary guests such as Ralph Waldo Emerson.”
I’ll finish up this cattle drive tomorrow.
“‘Sunset with Cows’ – with its boldly colored sky and mirroring waters – exemplifies Kensett’s luminist style. Kensett was part of the Hudson River School, which romanticized the American landscape by depicting a sublime wilderness while excluding the presence of Indigenous peoples. As the new American art scene gained popularity, the literary scene simultaneously flourished. Susan Dickinson may have chosen the piece (as suggested by her initials on the back of the painting) to complement her salons, which featured literary guests such as Ralph Waldo Emerson.”
I’ll finish up this cattle drive tomorrow.
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