Yesterday I discussed the Introduction to Al Salehi and Ivy Schweitzer’s Within Flesh, Poems: In Conversation with Our Selves & Emily Dickinson. Today I have a bit more about that section of the book concerning a few details that confused me.
The easiest befuddlement to clear up came shortly after the midway point: “Dickinson never oversaw a print edition of her poems. The eleven published during her lifetime were all regularized.”
Eleven? Say what? But…only ten poems were published in Dickinson’s lifetime. Generally, when I encounter confusion about this, the misinformation falls on “seven,” that “seven” poems were published in Dickinson’s lifetime, for that was what was known until the mid-1980s. Around that time, three additional poems were discovered to have been published anonymously in The Drum Beat, a Civil War-era fundraising newspaper for the Union cause, bringing the number to ten.
Oh – but there was an eleventh piece published, a valentine letter Dickinson had written to a friend. This piece ended up being published anonymously in the Amherst College newspaper, the Indicator. Interestingly, it was preceded by a comment in which the editor commented, "I wish I knew who the author is. I think she must have some spell, by which she quickens the imagination, and causes the high blood 'run frolic through the veins.'"
The complete letter is HERE. More info on Dickinson's works published in her lifetime is HERE.
The second bit of confusion involved this statement about Salehi and Schweitzer’s writing process: “we reflected on each other’s responses (i.e, the poems the two authors wrote in response to various works by Dickinson), often utilizing the Senku, a form invented by…” – and here’s where the confusion came in. I couldn’t tell if the print said “a form invented by Al,” as in the author, Al Salehi? Or did it say, “a form invented by AI,” as in Artificial Intelligence? LOL -- neither alternative made sense to me.
Well, I presumed that it could not have been “AI” (artificial intelligence), so it must have been “Al” (Al Salehi) who invented a poetic form that he dubbed “Senku."
I ran a quick search online and couldn’t find anything about “Senku” except that it’s the name of the protagonist in the anime/manga “Dr. Stone,” Senku Ishigami – AND – one Google search threw the word in as an alternative for “Senryu.”
The easiest befuddlement to clear up came shortly after the midway point: “Dickinson never oversaw a print edition of her poems. The eleven published during her lifetime were all regularized.”
Eleven? Say what? But…only ten poems were published in Dickinson’s lifetime. Generally, when I encounter confusion about this, the misinformation falls on “seven,” that “seven” poems were published in Dickinson’s lifetime, for that was what was known until the mid-1980s. Around that time, three additional poems were discovered to have been published anonymously in The Drum Beat, a Civil War-era fundraising newspaper for the Union cause, bringing the number to ten.
Oh – but there was an eleventh piece published, a valentine letter Dickinson had written to a friend. This piece ended up being published anonymously in the Amherst College newspaper, the Indicator. Interestingly, it was preceded by a comment in which the editor commented, "I wish I knew who the author is. I think she must have some spell, by which she quickens the imagination, and causes the high blood 'run frolic through the veins.'"
The complete letter is HERE. More info on Dickinson's works published in her lifetime is HERE.
The second bit of confusion involved this statement about Salehi and Schweitzer’s writing process: “we reflected on each other’s responses (i.e, the poems the two authors wrote in response to various works by Dickinson), often utilizing the Senku, a form invented by…” – and here’s where the confusion came in. I couldn’t tell if the print said “a form invented by Al,” as in the author, Al Salehi? Or did it say, “a form invented by AI,” as in Artificial Intelligence? LOL -- neither alternative made sense to me.
Well, I presumed that it could not have been “AI” (artificial intelligence), so it must have been “Al” (Al Salehi) who invented a poetic form that he dubbed “Senku."
I ran a quick search online and couldn’t find anything about “Senku” except that it’s the name of the protagonist in the anime/manga “Dr. Stone,” Senku Ishigami – AND – one Google search threw the word in as an alternative for “Senryu.”
Well, there really is no mystery, I suppose. The Intro section explains that a Senku, a three-line form, merges the Haiku and the Senryu: “The Senku takes up philosophical question in a similarly concise, focused manner. The first line states a problem or issue, which is expanded in the second line and resolved – or not – in the last line.” And evidently this format was developed by Al.
Oddly enough, though, the authors stated that they found “several unintentional examples of Senku in Dickinson’s work.” Huh?
I’ll get to that tomorrow. ; )
Oddly enough, though, the authors stated that they found “several unintentional examples of Senku in Dickinson’s work.” Huh?
I’ll get to that tomorrow. ; )
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