Each day this week, I’m posting one of Dickinson’s poems where she mentioned the month of March, and then I’m including a second poem with which to draw some sort of comparison, contrast, or correlation.
Today’s poems: “The duties of the Wind are few” and “You’ll know her – by her foot.”
Today’s poems: “The duties of the Wind are few” and “You’ll know her – by her foot.”
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I didn’t select these poems because of their themes and/or for any particular use of elements of poetry – like rhythm, rhyme, figures of speech or imagery. Instead, I picked them as examples of how intelligent Emily Dickinson – demonstrated by the vocabulary she used.
Of course, I selected “The duties of the Wind are few” because the poem mentions the month of March: one of the duties of the wind is to “Establish March” – such a fantastic image!
However, as I read the poem, I came across “Azof.”
At first I wondered if this were some sort of accidental misspelling on the part of Dickinson – for “as of.” Afterall, she spelled “woe” as “wo” in “If anybody’s friend be dead” (which I discussed on March 3rd). She’s also been known to misspell other words: “opon” for “upon,” “it’s” for “its,” and others.
I went to the online Dickinson Lexicon and checked for the meaning of “Azof.” Here’s what it reported:
“Inland sea; body of water northeast of the Black Sea near the Ukraine and Russia; site of Peter the Great's 1696 victory over the Turks in Eurasia; [metonymy] waves; breakers; the oceans; the deep; water currents of the earth; [historical] pen name of a Civil War correspondent for the 59th regiment of Massachusetts.”
Okay, so maybe she encountered the name of the Civil War correspondent – but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she already knew of the body of water and/or Peter the Great’s 1696 victory! She was, as they say, one smart cookie!
BTW: I’d never heard of “Azof.”
I paired this poem with “You’ll know her – by her foot” due the vocabulary in that poem – specifically, “Gamboge.”
Gam-whaaa???
LOL – I’d never heard of that word before – so back to the Dickinson Lexicon:
“Yellow; golden; made of gum resin; colored like yellow pigment from the thick liquid of trees native to Cambodia and Siam.”
Dickinson was VERY much into botany – so I suspect that’s where she might have encountered this term – but what a fantastic use of the word in the description of the robin’s foot – and combined with her depiction of the bird’s “vest” and “cap” – what a marvelous poem!
Of course, I selected “The duties of the Wind are few” because the poem mentions the month of March: one of the duties of the wind is to “Establish March” – such a fantastic image!
However, as I read the poem, I came across “Azof.”
At first I wondered if this were some sort of accidental misspelling on the part of Dickinson – for “as of.” Afterall, she spelled “woe” as “wo” in “If anybody’s friend be dead” (which I discussed on March 3rd). She’s also been known to misspell other words: “opon” for “upon,” “it’s” for “its,” and others.
I went to the online Dickinson Lexicon and checked for the meaning of “Azof.” Here’s what it reported:
“Inland sea; body of water northeast of the Black Sea near the Ukraine and Russia; site of Peter the Great's 1696 victory over the Turks in Eurasia; [metonymy] waves; breakers; the oceans; the deep; water currents of the earth; [historical] pen name of a Civil War correspondent for the 59th regiment of Massachusetts.”
Okay, so maybe she encountered the name of the Civil War correspondent – but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she already knew of the body of water and/or Peter the Great’s 1696 victory! She was, as they say, one smart cookie!
BTW: I’d never heard of “Azof.”
I paired this poem with “You’ll know her – by her foot” due the vocabulary in that poem – specifically, “Gamboge.”
Gam-whaaa???
LOL – I’d never heard of that word before – so back to the Dickinson Lexicon:
“Yellow; golden; made of gum resin; colored like yellow pigment from the thick liquid of trees native to Cambodia and Siam.”
Dickinson was VERY much into botany – so I suspect that’s where she might have encountered this term – but what a fantastic use of the word in the description of the robin’s foot – and combined with her depiction of the bird’s “vest” and “cap” – what a marvelous poem!
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