In late July, my wife and I visited Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore (on the southern tip of the DelMarVa Peninsula), and while we were there, I visited one branch of their public library to see what Dickinson they had on the shelves.
 | Recent posts have highlighted some of my finds there, and two of them focused on the 2006 Oxford Book of American Poetry. I also later found the 1976 edition of this anthology online, and in one post, I made a few observations comparing the two editions.. Today, I’ll compare the Dickinson offerings between the two editions. The 1976 edition includes 70 poems by Dickinson, and the 2006 edition has 43. I’m sure some were removed to make room for the “three times as many” poets in the later volume. A list of poems included in each book is shown below. Those that appear in both editions are shown in blue. Green indicates those which appear only in the 1976 edition, and pink shows those that appear in the 2006 volume, but not the 1976. |
Are there any surprises?
In blue – no. All of those poems merit selection for an Oxford anthology.
The question is, I suppose, are there any poems missing from that list?
I ran a very unscientific experiment: I Google-searched “Emily Dickinson’s most famous poems,” and 11 poems popped up. Interestingly, 10 of the 11 are on the blue list (i.e. both 1976 and 2006); only one is missing: “There is a pain so utter.” That poem is in the 1976 anthology, but it was not included in 2006.
In blue – no. All of those poems merit selection for an Oxford anthology.
The question is, I suppose, are there any poems missing from that list?
I ran a very unscientific experiment: I Google-searched “Emily Dickinson’s most famous poems,” and 11 poems popped up. Interestingly, 10 of the 11 are on the blue list (i.e. both 1976 and 2006); only one is missing: “There is a pain so utter.” That poem is in the 1976 anthology, but it was not included in 2006.
The biggest surprise for me, though, was “This is my letter to the world.” That poem is included in the 1976 edition, but it, too, was removed in 2006, and I think that one should have remained – even if just for its historic significance:
When Mabel Loomis Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higginson published the first volume of “Poems” in 1890, following Dickinson’s death in 1886, the very first poem readers encountered was “This is my letter to the word.” It was listed in the Table of Contents as the book’s “Prelude.” In addition, the poem incorporates a familiar theme found in various poems by Dickinson that center on the poet’s complex views on whether or not to publish.
When Mabel Loomis Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higginson published the first volume of “Poems” in 1890, following Dickinson’s death in 1886, the very first poem readers encountered was “This is my letter to the word.” It was listed in the Table of Contents as the book’s “Prelude.” In addition, the poem incorporates a familiar theme found in various poems by Dickinson that center on the poet’s complex views on whether or not to publish.
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Other poems found in the 1976 edition but NOT in the 2006 volume – but should have been – are “I never lost as much but twice,” “If you were coming in the fall,” and “That it will never come again.”
There are also three poems in the 2006 edition that, perhaps, should have earned positions in the earlier volume: “Publication is the auction,” “The soul has bandaged moments,” “There is no Frigate like a Book.”
The only minor surprise in the 2006 edition – a poem that, perhaps, could have been omitted to make space for one I’d mentioned earlier – is “‘Go tell it’ – What a Message.”
Are there any surprises for you?
There are also three poems in the 2006 edition that, perhaps, should have earned positions in the earlier volume: “Publication is the auction,” “The soul has bandaged moments,” “There is no Frigate like a Book.”
The only minor surprise in the 2006 edition – a poem that, perhaps, could have been omitted to make space for one I’d mentioned earlier – is “‘Go tell it’ – What a Message.”
Are there any surprises for you?
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