 | I ran the Richmond Half Marathon yesterday, and I have to admit – I did better than I thought I would. Earlier in the year I set a goal to run the race in two and half hours, but the summer heat wave, the fall monsoons, work, some family commitments, and travel played havoc with my training – so my goal shifted to “just finish the race without falling over.” But surprise, surprise – I ran the course in just under two and a half hours! Miracles do happen! LOL. Sooo…did Dickinson ever use the word “marathon” in any of her poems? Nope. However, she did use the word “run.” |
If you run a search on “run” (no pun intended) on the online Dickinson archive, 110 entries pop up, and this represents 45 poems – not 110 poems, because different variations of the same poem are always displayed. For example, “I taste a liquor never brewed” is listed four times, and “Could I but ride indefinite” shows up three times.
| Then you have something like this: “It sounded as if the air were running” shows up 3 times, and “It sounded as if the streets were running” pops up twice – but the five entries really represent one poem with slightly different first lines. |  |
Thomas Johnson’s notes on this poem can be found HERE.
Sooo…from what I can tell, the 110 entries for “run” represent 44 different poems.
More on “It sounded as if the streets were running” tomorrow.
Sooo…from what I can tell, the 110 entries for “run” represent 44 different poems.
More on “It sounded as if the streets were running” tomorrow.
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Yesterday I looked into the word “run” used in Dickinson’s poetry: When searching the Dickinson online archive, 110 entries popped up for the word “run” representing 44 different poems.
Of the 110 entries, the first line “It sounded as if the air were running” showed up three times, and “It sounded as if the streets were running” was there twice.
Franklin’s research revealed that there were four variants of this poem: “The earliest is a pencil draft on a fragment of stationery” from 1877. Also, “Another pencil draft – on a fragment of stationery, with practice signatures on the reverse – changed the first noun to “Streets” and reworked the concluding metaphor, though retaining “apron” readings as alternative.”
Yesterday I looked into the word “run” used in Dickinson’s poetry: When searching the Dickinson online archive, 110 entries popped up for the word “run” representing 44 different poems.
Of the 110 entries, the first line “It sounded as if the air were running” showed up three times, and “It sounded as if the streets were running” was there twice.
Franklin’s research revealed that there were four variants of this poem: “The earliest is a pencil draft on a fragment of stationery” from 1877. Also, “Another pencil draft – on a fragment of stationery, with practice signatures on the reverse – changed the first noun to “Streets” and reworked the concluding metaphor, though retaining “apron” readings as alternative.”
Franklin also mentioned that “ED began the first line with “It –” but canceled it, only to begin with the same word again.”
Mention of this poem shows up in Cristanne Miller & Domhnall Mitchell’s volume “The Letters of Emily Dickinson” because she enclosed the third variation of the poem (along with others) in a letter to friend and mentor Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
In the letter, Dickinson referred to this poem as a “Gale,” and wrote the following:
“You asked me if I wrote now?
I have no other Playmate –
I send you a Gale (i.e., “It sounded as if the Streets were running”), and an Epitaph – and a Word to a Friend, and a Blue Bird, for Mrs. Higginson. Excuse them if they are untrue –”
She ended the letter “Since you cease to teach me, how could I improve?” and signed it, “Your pupil.”
The complete letter is HERE.
In her letter, Dickinson asked Higginson to “Excuse them (i.e., her poems) if they are untrue –” – but this poem rings particularly true to me – so many wonderful images in such a short poem – and I love the final lines – when people emerge from their shelters “To see if Time was (still) there” – and that image of Nature in her “Opal Apron / Mixing fresher Air.” Dickinson at her best!
Mention of this poem shows up in Cristanne Miller & Domhnall Mitchell’s volume “The Letters of Emily Dickinson” because she enclosed the third variation of the poem (along with others) in a letter to friend and mentor Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
In the letter, Dickinson referred to this poem as a “Gale,” and wrote the following:
“You asked me if I wrote now?
I have no other Playmate –
I send you a Gale (i.e., “It sounded as if the Streets were running”), and an Epitaph – and a Word to a Friend, and a Blue Bird, for Mrs. Higginson. Excuse them if they are untrue –”
She ended the letter “Since you cease to teach me, how could I improve?” and signed it, “Your pupil.”
The complete letter is HERE.
In her letter, Dickinson asked Higginson to “Excuse them (i.e., her poems) if they are untrue –” – but this poem rings particularly true to me – so many wonderful images in such a short poem – and I love the final lines – when people emerge from their shelters “To see if Time was (still) there” – and that image of Nature in her “Opal Apron / Mixing fresher Air.” Dickinson at her best!
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