The Lady In Red

Last week I posted seven poems by Dickinson, one each day that mentioned the month of “March,” and I paired each one with some other Dickinson poem for contrast or comparison.  

Well, today I have another poem with which to compare a second poem, but in this case the first poem does not mention March – though it is about the approaching spring – and the second poem – well, the second poem is actually five different poems.

The first poem about the approaching spring is “A Lady red - amid the Hill,” and the first comparison that jumped out at me came in the final stanza, so the first of the five companion poems is “There’s a certain slant of light.”

The opening line to the final stanza of “A Lady red – amid the Hill” calls to mind the opening line to the final stanza of “There’s a certain slant of light”:  “When it comes, the Landscape listens” – and shadows hold their breath!  Compare that to the nonchalant Hedge in the montionless Landsacpe of “A Lady red – amid the Hill.”

Of course, the second line of “A Lady red – amid the Hill” – about secrets kept – calls to mind the opening lines of “The Skies can’t keep their secret! – though their secret is blabbed:  “They tell it to the Hills.”

The second stanza of “A Lady red – amid the Hill” mentions the “pretty Housewives” and the breezes “with their Brooms” – and that reminds me of the dead (and now “indolent”) housewife in “How many times these low feet staggered.”  As a result of the late housewife’s neglect, dull flies now buzz about the window, the sun shines through streaked windows, and cobwebs hang from the ceiling.

“The Woods exchange a smile!” in the third stanza calls to mind the second line of “The Hills erect their Purple Heads” – when “The Rivers lean to see” – and the fact that the orchard, the buttercups and the birds will soon return, made me think of the opening line to Dickinson’s “These are the days when birds come back.”

Does “A Lady red – amid the Hill” remind you of any other poems by Dickinson?