This past Wednesday I participated in the second meeting of a monthly discussion group about selected poems by Dickinson sponsored by the Emily Dickinson Museum.
Dickinson was an avid reader of Shakespeare, and the main theme of this month’s discussion centered on four poems connected to The Tempest (or at least “possibly” connected).
At the start, our moderator Dr. Melba Jensen shared information related to Dickinson’s love of Shakespeare, the Bard’s reception in the nineteenth century, and the poet’s personal edition of The Tempest.
Most of the discussion centered on the first two poems, “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” (info HERE) and “An awful Tempest mashed the air" (info HERE).
Alas, time passed all too quickly and very little time was given to “She rose to his requirement – dropt” and “A route of evanescence.”
Dickinson was an avid reader of Shakespeare, and the main theme of this month’s discussion centered on four poems connected to The Tempest (or at least “possibly” connected).
At the start, our moderator Dr. Melba Jensen shared information related to Dickinson’s love of Shakespeare, the Bard’s reception in the nineteenth century, and the poet’s personal edition of The Tempest.
Most of the discussion centered on the first two poems, “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” (info HERE) and “An awful Tempest mashed the air" (info HERE).
Alas, time passed all too quickly and very little time was given to “She rose to his requirement – dropt” and “A route of evanescence.”
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The moderator’s main connection of “She rose to his requirement – dropt” was that, for her, the poem called to mind the character of Miranda. We also had a bit of discussion about the antecedent for the reflexive pronoun “Himself” in the final stanza. To me, that refers to the Sea – i.e. he who develops “Pearl and (sea)Weed” and who knows “The Fathoms they abide.”
The discussion session was an hour and a half, and time did run out by the time we got to the final poem – which does mention Tunis, a city named in “The Tempest” (prior to being shipwrecked, the men on the ship were in Tunis) – so the moderator just let us know that that particular poem – Dickinson’s tribute to the hummingbird – was included in several letters written to various friends and acquaintances.
We then bid adieu until our meeting in April! ; )
The discussion session was an hour and a half, and time did run out by the time we got to the final poem – which does mention Tunis, a city named in “The Tempest” (prior to being shipwrecked, the men on the ship were in Tunis) – so the moderator just let us know that that particular poem – Dickinson’s tribute to the hummingbird – was included in several letters written to various friends and acquaintances.
We then bid adieu until our meeting in April! ; )
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