Of a Poetess

Of a Poetess

A Confession of an Emily Dickinson Devotee

The shadows speak to her of Him
And everything Divine,
And so she writes in metered hymn
The depth of every sign.
The sun and moon and vaulted skies
Are symbols she will say-
She sees the Meaning they disguise
And writes what they portray.

That Meaning (set in cryptic verse)
Transcends what I can see,
And though I have the poet’s thirst
I cannot be as she:
For God has opened up her sight
To see internal things-
With ease she sees the purer light,
I see it and it stings.

-jwm
Of the Poem (Parameters and a Side Note)

Parameters

Stanza: Octet
Meter: Alternates between a tetrameter (8 syllables per line), and a trimeter (6 syllables)
Rhyme Scheme: ababcdcd per individual stanza

Note

To say Emily Dickinson is an incredible poet is not saying enough. Of course, and I say this respectfully of her, she’s just as human as the next person.

Here’s the deal, though … her passion and talent for poetry, coupled with her ability to perceive the depths of the transcendental in the exceedingly mundane, is a level scarcely reached by most people (and to give expression of it in verse, rarer still).

She composed roughly 1,800 poems in her lifetime. It was only when she died that those who were close to her came to discover her works. This suggests to me that not only did she care little for accolade, but that she cared for poetry for poetry’s sake. A true poet!Her commitment to poetry is chillingly inspiring. I’ve said this before, and I’ll unhesitatingly say it again: She, above any poet I’ve come to know or study thus far, is what a poet ought to be. She is to poetry what Kierkegaard is to existentialism.