I don’t remember exactly how I stumbled upon this site, but I found it at some point in the past couple of months and made a note about it. I’ve only glanced over the info – and there is a LOT here – so I have no indepth review; just some introductory comments and info after a quick look at the site – and I have to admit, I am fascinated by what I have found. I’ll spend more time on the site late – once I find more time. LOL.
So what is the site?
Well, it’s the website for a high school English teacher, one Dr. TIm McGee at Worland High School in Worland, Wyoming – and after a quick search or two, I found out that Dr. McGee has taught at the school since 1988.
What is it that caught my eye?
Dr. McGee’s site, Learnstrong.net, includes a page entitled, “Chats with Emily, Lectures on Emily Dickinson’s Poems.” On this page, McGee is posting short talks focused on each of Dickinson’s 1,775 poems, one video per poem, using the order from the Johnson edition published in 1955.
So what is the site?
Well, it’s the website for a high school English teacher, one Dr. TIm McGee at Worland High School in Worland, Wyoming – and after a quick search or two, I found out that Dr. McGee has taught at the school since 1988.
What is it that caught my eye?
Dr. McGee’s site, Learnstrong.net, includes a page entitled, “Chats with Emily, Lectures on Emily Dickinson’s Poems.” On this page, McGee is posting short talks focused on each of Dickinson’s 1,775 poems, one video per poem, using the order from the Johnson edition published in 1955.
The “chats” are archived HERE.
The video for the first poem, J1, “Awake ye muses nine, sing me a strain divine,” was posted in August 2023, HERE.
The latest post (as of this writing) for poem J523, “Sweet - You forgot - but I remembered,” was posted yesterday, HERE.
He has 1,252 poems to go.
I picked a poem at random to listen to one “chat,” and I stopped at J162, “My River runs to thee,” a short, straightforward love poem in the form of a “letter” written from a river to the sea.
I assume McGee follows a similar pattern with each “chat,” but here he introduces the poem, gives a bit of history surrounding it, reads it, connects it to other authors’ and poets’ works with similar language and themes, and explains it. He also mentions an assumption that those watching have listened to the site’s introductory comments on this serises and that they have read the preceding poems; obviously, that would provide viewers with essential background knowledge so that he would not have to reiterate presupposed understandings in each talk.
The video for J162 runs about four and a half minutes, HERE.
His introductory video runs just over eighteen minutes, and it is HERE.
Can you imagine someone with so much time on their hands that they make daily posts about Emily Dickinson? LOL – says the man who posts daily doses of Dickinson.
In truth, I am in awe with what this man has provided on his site, and at some point when I have time, I will inspect it all more thoroughly.
Tomorrow, I’ll provide a bit more info on “My River runs to thee,” one of the poems I’ve turned into song for my upcoming, third-annual ED birthday celebration concert. More on that – and the poem – tomorrow.
Stay tuned.
The video for the first poem, J1, “Awake ye muses nine, sing me a strain divine,” was posted in August 2023, HERE.
The latest post (as of this writing) for poem J523, “Sweet - You forgot - but I remembered,” was posted yesterday, HERE.
He has 1,252 poems to go.
I picked a poem at random to listen to one “chat,” and I stopped at J162, “My River runs to thee,” a short, straightforward love poem in the form of a “letter” written from a river to the sea.
I assume McGee follows a similar pattern with each “chat,” but here he introduces the poem, gives a bit of history surrounding it, reads it, connects it to other authors’ and poets’ works with similar language and themes, and explains it. He also mentions an assumption that those watching have listened to the site’s introductory comments on this serises and that they have read the preceding poems; obviously, that would provide viewers with essential background knowledge so that he would not have to reiterate presupposed understandings in each talk.
The video for J162 runs about four and a half minutes, HERE.
His introductory video runs just over eighteen minutes, and it is HERE.
Can you imagine someone with so much time on their hands that they make daily posts about Emily Dickinson? LOL – says the man who posts daily doses of Dickinson.
In truth, I am in awe with what this man has provided on his site, and at some point when I have time, I will inspect it all more thoroughly.
Tomorrow, I’ll provide a bit more info on “My River runs to thee,” one of the poems I’ve turned into song for my upcoming, third-annual ED birthday celebration concert. More on that – and the poem – tomorrow.
Stay tuned.
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