Category: Trees

TREEmendous!

4/29/2022

Not only is today the penultimate day of the month, but it's Arbor Day too! Woo hoo!

Arbor Day was originally proclaimed a state holiday in Nebraska (of all places) in 1874 by Governor Robert W. Furnas, and it was observed on April 10th that year. More on the holiday's history can be found HERE -- and be sure not to confuse it with "Our Boar Day," proclaimed a state holiday in West Virginia in 1926 by Governor Bucephelus Huck, a day that set the precedent for West Virginians to take road kill home for dinner (as long as it was within 24 hours).

In tribute to Arbor Day, Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) penned a short poem honoring trees (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "An Hour is a sea" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

What Power has a Tree
In great variety –
What awe the Arbor be –

By Emily Dickinson:

An Hour is a Sea
Between a few, and me --
With them would Harbor be –

0 Comments

Branch Out

2/1/2021

0 Comments

We had some snow yesterday. Thankfully, it was enough to make the area look beautiful without paralyzing everything -- the roads were cleared pretty quickly. Plus, we didn't lose power -- so that's always the best kind of snow day!

We went for a short walk through our neighborhood, and I took these pics of tree branches.

By Emily Dickinson:

Not at Home to Callers
Says the Naked Tree –
Bonnet due in April –
Wishing you Good Day –

By Emily Dickinson:

Winter is good – his Hoar Delights
Italic flavor yield
To Intellects inebriate
With Summer, or the World –

Generic as a Quarry
And hearty – as a Rose –
Invited with Asperity
But welcome when he goes.

I took the picture above today (the day after the snow storm). The picture at the right was taken a few years back; however, it will give you some idea how big the tree is, because I'm standing under it (the red arrow is pointing to me).

Click the image to enlarge.

I suspect that this tree is close to 300 years old.

0 Comments

PoeTREE

12/9/2020

0 Comments

My wife and I went for a walk in the woods today, and from the pictures below, you probably won't be surprised by the poem the Emily Dickinson that popped into my head (below).

By Emily Dickinson:

Frequently the woods are pink –
Frequently, are brown.
Frequently the hills undress
Behind my native town –
Oft a head is crested
I was wont to see –
And as oft a cranny
Where it used to be –
And the Earth – they tell me
On its axis turned!
Wonderful rotation –
By but twelve performed!

While walking through the woods and in thinking of that poem, I wondered what trees appeared in Dickinson's poetry, so I looked into that once I got home. The results are below. I also looked into the parts of a tree mentioned in Dickinson's poems -- as well as how often the word "tree" appeared.

Before you scroll down to see the results, what do you think? Do you think Dickinson wrote more poems about trees -- or flowers? And what about shrubs and bushes? And when it comes to trees, what types of trees appear in the poems by Dickinson -- and in how many poems are they mentioned?

Once you've made some predictions, scroll down to see the results.

The first thing I checked was the number of Dickinson's poems that contain the word "tree." While I was at it, I also checked on "flower," "grass," and other related terms. The results are below.

Tree: 58
Sapling: 1
Bush: 7
Shrub: 1
Flower: 90
Grass: 33
Dirt: 1
Mud: 1
Ground: 26

Next I checked for the terms related to the parts of tree:

Root: 8
Trunk: 0*
Branch: 4
Twig: 12
Leaf: 8
Leaves: 11**
Bark 4
Sap 2

* Dickinson used the word "trunk" once, but not as the woody base of a tree. "To pack her trunk" appears in "Were nature mortal lady."

** The word "leaves" appears in 57 poems; however, only 11 of those pertain to trees' leaves.

Finally I looked into they types trees that appear in Dickinson's poems and the number of poems in which they are mentioned:

Oak 3
Elm 1
Maple 4
Pine 3*
Fir 2
Chestnut 2
Hemlock 4

* "Pine" appears in five of Dickinson's poems, but in only three of those poems does the word refer to pine trees.

For more statistics on word usage in Dickinson's poems, click HERE.

DO YOU FIND THESE STATISTICS INTERESTING? IF SO PLEASE READ THIS: My wife said that I should be raking the yard, unloading the dishwasher, or putting away laundry instead of analyzing Dickinson's poetry. She said that there can be only EIGHT PEOPLE* on this earth who find this interesting. Are you one of the eight? If so, please tweet to me, "I'm one of the eight." My user name is @The_Dickinson. So far, 12/9/20, no one has responded. : (

* BTW: My wife added "maybe TWELVE PEOPLE if you count those people" -- and by "those people" she meant the people who work at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, MA.

0 Comments

PoeTree

10/26/2020

0 Comments

We visited Montpelier, the home of President James Madison, today. We didn't tour the house. Instead, we strolled the grounds -- including a restored garden -- and we walked through a forest on the property. Called "the Landmark Forest" (and also known as an "old growth forest"), this wooded area supposedly contains no invasive species. Of course, the forest is not exactly like the one that James & Dolly Madison would have roamed through because we have lost trees to blights over time. There are no chestnut trees, and I'm not sure I saw any evidence of hemlocks other than rotting stumps of ancient fallen trees.

By Emily Dickinson:

Four Trees – upon a solitary Acre –
Without Design
Or Order, or Apparent Action –
Maintain –

The Sun – upon a Morning meets them –
The Wind –
No nearer Neighbor – have they –
But God –

The Acre gives them – Place –
They – Him – Attention of Passer by –
Of Shadow, or of Squirrel, haply –
Or Boy –

What Deed is Theirs unto the General Nature –
What Plan
They severally – retard – or further –
Unknown –

Above: Bark from four trees in the old growth forest. The bark on the far right is from the tree pictured below:

Below: James & Dolly Madison's Montpelier

Below: Miscellaneous shots from Montpelier's gardens. NOTE: Slide shows don't always work on Androids, so the pictures below are best viewed on a laptop, an iPhone, or an iPad.

Below left and right: Madison's grave and pictures from the family cemetery.

Below: Miscellaneous shots from our walk in Montpelier's old growth forest.

0 Comments

TREEmendous!

Branch Out

PoeTREE

PoeTree

Archives

PLOG

Categories