My wife and I went for a walk in the woods today, and from the pictures below, you probably won't be surprised by the poem the Emily Dickinson that popped into my head (below).
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| By Emily Dickinson: Frequently the woods are pink – Frequently, are brown. Frequently the hills undress Behind my native town – Oft a head is crested I was wont to see – And as oft a cranny Where it used to be – And the Earth – they tell me On its axis turned! Wonderful rotation – By but twelve performed! |  |
While walking through the woods and in thinking of that poem, I wondered what trees appeared in Dickinson's poetry, so I looked into that once I got home. The results are below. I also looked into the parts of a tree mentioned in Dickinson's poems -- as well as how often the word "tree" appeared.
Before you scroll down to see the results, what do you think? Do you think Dickinson wrote more poems about trees -- or flowers? And what about shrubs and bushes? And when it comes to trees, what types of trees appear in the poems by Dickinson -- and in how many poems are they mentioned?
Once you've made some predictions, scroll down to see the results.
Before you scroll down to see the results, what do you think? Do you think Dickinson wrote more poems about trees -- or flowers? And what about shrubs and bushes? And when it comes to trees, what types of trees appear in the poems by Dickinson -- and in how many poems are they mentioned?
Once you've made some predictions, scroll down to see the results.
The first thing I checked was the number of Dickinson's poems that contain the word "tree." While I was at it, I also checked on "flower," "grass," and other related terms. The results are below.
| Tree: 58 Sapling: 1 Bush: 7 Shrub: 1 Flower: 90 Grass: 33 Dirt: 1 Mud: 1 Ground: 26 |  |
| Next I checked for the terms related to the parts of tree: Root: 8 Trunk: 0* Branch: 4 Twig: 12 Leaf: 8 Leaves: 11** Bark 4 Sap 2 |  |
* Dickinson used the word "trunk" once, but not as the woody base of a tree. "To pack her trunk" appears in "Were nature mortal lady."
** The word "leaves" appears in 57 poems; however, only 11 of those pertain to trees' leaves.
** The word "leaves" appears in 57 poems; however, only 11 of those pertain to trees' leaves.
| Finally I looked into they types trees that appear in Dickinson's poems and the number of poems in which they are mentioned: Oak 3 Elm 1 Maple 4 Pine 3* Fir 2 Chestnut 2 Hemlock 4 |  |
* "Pine" appears in five of Dickinson's poems, but in only three of those poems does the word refer to pine trees.
For more statistics on word usage in Dickinson's poems, click HERE.
DO YOU FIND THESE STATISTICS INTERESTING? IF SO PLEASE READ THIS: My wife said that I should be raking the yard, unloading the dishwasher, or putting away laundry instead of analyzing Dickinson's poetry. She said that there can be only EIGHT PEOPLE* on this earth who find this interesting. Are you one of the eight? If so, please tweet to me, "I'm one of the eight." My user name is @The_Dickinson. So far, 12/9/20, no one has responded. : (
* BTW: My wife added "maybe TWELVE PEOPLE if you count those people" -- and by "those people" she meant the people who work at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, MA.
For more statistics on word usage in Dickinson's poems, click HERE.
DO YOU FIND THESE STATISTICS INTERESTING? IF SO PLEASE READ THIS: My wife said that I should be raking the yard, unloading the dishwasher, or putting away laundry instead of analyzing Dickinson's poetry. She said that there can be only EIGHT PEOPLE* on this earth who find this interesting. Are you one of the eight? If so, please tweet to me, "I'm one of the eight." My user name is @The_Dickinson. So far, 12/9/20, no one has responded. : (
* BTW: My wife added "maybe TWELVE PEOPLE if you count those people" -- and by "those people" she meant the people who work at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, MA.
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