I believe I suffer from a neuropoetical condition which challenges my focus, organization, and attention. I refer to it as ADD, “Another Dickinson Direction.”
As you know, I publish daily posts about Emily Dickinson’s life, poetry, family, friends past publishers, early critics, and more, and the articles are generally short, quick reads; longer topics may cross multiple days, and those commentaries are usually offered in parts (i.e., “Part 1…and Part 2 is coming tomorrow). Very often, I’ll have some unresolved detail, a dangling thread, or an unexplained issue, and I’ll say, “I’ll get to that tomorrow” – but then my ADD kicks in. The next day, I don’t address the unfinished business. Instead, I move off in Another Dickinson Direction (ADD).
I do attempt to keep a list of the outstanding issues to which I plan to return, but I admit that the inventory is imprecise and a bit jumbled. Among other items, the catalog of entries includes these:
* Grammar – poem with “syntax”
* Eben Loomis' poem "A Sunset Idyl"
* Mathematics v. grammar – info on short poem re: ingots/Peru (I’m not entirely sure what this one is all about)
* Dashes – info from Helen V’s book
* Story of the giant coffee cup (LOL – this dates back to a post from this past January where, at the conclusion of the post I said, “this is eerily reminiscent of the day the planets aligned and some unknown, unseen force directed me to the giant coffee cup and saucer in Milwaukee, but I’ll save that story for another day” – and that “another day” has yet to come.
As you know, I publish daily posts about Emily Dickinson’s life, poetry, family, friends past publishers, early critics, and more, and the articles are generally short, quick reads; longer topics may cross multiple days, and those commentaries are usually offered in parts (i.e., “Part 1…and Part 2 is coming tomorrow). Very often, I’ll have some unresolved detail, a dangling thread, or an unexplained issue, and I’ll say, “I’ll get to that tomorrow” – but then my ADD kicks in. The next day, I don’t address the unfinished business. Instead, I move off in Another Dickinson Direction (ADD).
I do attempt to keep a list of the outstanding issues to which I plan to return, but I admit that the inventory is imprecise and a bit jumbled. Among other items, the catalog of entries includes these:
* Grammar – poem with “syntax”
* Eben Loomis' poem "A Sunset Idyl"
* Mathematics v. grammar – info on short poem re: ingots/Peru (I’m not entirely sure what this one is all about)
* Dashes – info from Helen V’s book
* Story of the giant coffee cup (LOL – this dates back to a post from this past January where, at the conclusion of the post I said, “this is eerily reminiscent of the day the planets aligned and some unknown, unseen force directed me to the giant coffee cup and saucer in Milwaukee, but I’ll save that story for another day” – and that “another day” has yet to come.
 | At the left: The giant coffee cup and saucer in Milwaukee * Card vs. Cards (Hmm…I think I remember what this is about.) * Dickinson duel w/A Jackson; Wells S. Dickinson; etc. * Translation post from March In the coming days, I plan to address these items – unless – you know – the ADD kicks in! Today, I’ll address my reminder, “Grammar – poem with “syntax.” |
My original plan was to share the “poem with ‘syntax’” back on June 21. However, my ADD kicked in, and I put it off. “My plan for today,” I confessed at that time, “was to write about grammar and syntax (LOL – I’ll explain more about that tomorrow…or whenever I get to it), but when I realized that today was both Father’s Day and the first day of summer, I changed course!” To be honest, all of this actually dates back to a post from June 2, when I mentioned, “That bit on grammar (from my post on June 1) made me wonder if Dickinson ever used the word ‘grammar’ in any of her poems. The answer -- no. However, she did use the word ‘syntax’ in one poem.”
Finally, with just a little more ado, below is Dickinson’s one poem which uses the word “syntax.” Interestingly there were at least three versions of this work: one, “Going to Him,” was – according to R. W. Franklin – “prepared as if for a recipient, the manuscript remained among ED’s own papers. It was not sent to Samuel Bowles”; one, “Going to Her,” intended for an unknown female; and one, “Going to Them” (now lost), sent to her cousins, Frances and Louise Norcross.
Finally, with just a little more ado, below is Dickinson’s one poem which uses the word “syntax.” Interestingly there were at least three versions of this work: one, “Going to Him,” was – according to R. W. Franklin – “prepared as if for a recipient, the manuscript remained among ED’s own papers. It was not sent to Samuel Bowles”; one, “Going to Her,” intended for an unknown female; and one, “Going to Them” (now lost), sent to her cousins, Frances and Louise Norcross.
Of course, the speaker in the poem addresses a letter as if it were a pal and a confidant, and the speaker gives instructions to the letter as to what to tell the unnamed “him” – or “her” – or “them” – to whom the letter is addressed. However, the speaker and the letter seem to share more than a few secrets, and the ending is quite saucy – if not spicy! Just where do you think that letter was hidden? There’s more than a fair share of playful innuendo in these lines, and in one discussion of this poem I encountered, one reader stated that she blushed at lines 6 and 7! Be sure to have the smelling salts ready if such scandalous ambiguity makes you lightheaded!
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