Thanksgiving? Christmas? National Candy Corn Day? Something altogether different?
Well, I looked into this matter of great import, and the results (shown below) just may surprise you.
Valentine’s Day: 1 Poem Awake ye muses nine, sing me a strain divine Easter: 1 Poem If He dissolve then – there is nothing more Thanksgiving: 2 Poems One Day is there of the Series ’Twas just this time, last year, I died Christmas: 3 Poems As sleigh bells seem in summer Before the ice is in the pools ’Twas just this time, last year, I died There were no poems which mentioned Halloween although there are three poems that use the word "October." |
Also, in my 1958 Johnson edition of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, there is a reference at the end of the poem "Sic transit gloria mundi" that says, "St. Valentine -- '52."
Emmett Lee Dickinson, Emily's third cousin, twice removed (at her request), also wrote poems which referenced Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, the holidays which are named most often in his poetry are National Candy Corn Day (October 30th) and National Margarita Day (February 22nd).
Hmm. So which month do you think appears most often in Emily's poems? I'll work on the next.
:-)