tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post4184179646305606587..comments2024-03-18T12:24:57.638-07:00Comments on the prowling Bee: She dealt her pretty words like Blades —Susan Kornfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-49977050006696939582023-10-01T06:19:53.927-07:002023-10-01T06:19:53.927-07:00Happy to find your blog. I only know about Emily D...Happy to find your blog. I only know about Emily Dickinson since few days ago. What a waste of my life until now, right ? <br />Thanks for your explanations, it helps me cause English is not my first language. <br />But sad to see still today people continue to believe Emily and Sue were just friends. Change actually everything… <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-61709217989465490412023-09-22T15:48:57.418-07:002023-09-22T15:48:57.418-07:00“The Film upon the eye
Mortality's old Custom ...“The Film upon the eye<br />Mortality's old Custom —<br />Just locking up — to Die.” <br /><br />Metaphorically die; eyes glaze over, go blank, to hide emotion such as pain of a cutting remark, as in the previous poem,<br /><br />"We — who have the Souls —<br />Die oftener — Not so vitally —"<br />Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-35578589374701124242022-11-30T06:34:55.919-08:002022-11-30T06:34:55.919-08:00To be honest I'd really love this blog and its...To be honest I'd really love this blog and its contents in paperback form, I mean, just imagine! the idea of it is so lovely and fulfilling.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-46430139692150355232021-10-29T14:44:37.296-07:002021-10-29T14:44:37.296-07:00I thought so too. It seems obvious, but, according...I thought so too. It seems obvious, but, according to the OED, "unbare" is a rarely used word that means "to lay bare" or "to expose to view". So full marks to ED.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414051137710896511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-39062911558118018032021-10-28T14:36:40.839-07:002021-10-28T14:36:40.839-07:00Thanks or the thought about Mortality's old cu...Thanks or the thought about Mortality's old custom. That helps.Peter H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-22527509159023433782021-10-28T14:20:22.235-07:002021-10-28T14:20:22.235-07:00The other wonderful device ED uses in the poem is ...The other wonderful device ED uses in the poem is the shift of "she" from being the wielder of the knives in stanza 1 to being the knife itself in stanza 2. It jolts the reader to attention, I think.Peter H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-57446467470490863932021-10-28T09:31:28.298-07:002021-10-28T09:31:28.298-07:00I think you're right about the 'vulgar gri...I think you're right about the 'vulgar grimace' being the wound rather than a facial expression. I love revisiting poems over reader comments. So often illuminating (and corrective). As to 'mortality's old custom, perhaps it is the film of death (which I think pops up in other Dickinson poems). It's the outer sign of the body locking up. Or something! <br />Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-15394552551178175992021-10-28T07:23:29.053-07:002021-10-28T07:23:29.053-07:00To me a rapier is better. These knives are serious...To me a rapier is better. These knives are serious weapons. ED's imagery in the first stanza and after details the damage that they perform. "A vulgar grimace" in line 7 is the ghastly smile shaped curve the knife leaves in the flesh.<br /><br />I'm mystified by the last two lines. What is "mortality's old custom"? But, then again, ED often leaves me wondering.Peter H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-41089548652865162992021-02-06T10:23:44.550-08:002021-02-06T10:23:44.550-08:00Any idea where I can buy that letter opener? It...Any idea where I can buy that letter opener? It's beautiful. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-57984460016888228642021-02-05T03:47:10.177-08:002021-02-05T03:47:10.177-08:00Thank you very much for this exposition. I was pa...Thank you very much for this exposition. I was particularly lost on the last stanza, but seeing the “Film” as tears helped a lot. The more I read of Emily Dickinson the wider I see her range of expressed emotions — not just the simplistic ones most often published. Helenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15467549214231943532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-56102564555686247752020-09-02T18:52:04.480-07:002020-09-02T18:52:04.480-07:00yep; I think it's all for the meter.yep; I think it's all for the meter.Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-52734897342164279982020-09-02T05:15:02.510-07:002020-09-02T05:15:02.510-07:00“Unbared” is odd - bared means laid open - un- wou...“Unbared” is odd - bared means laid open - un- would mean covered up. Just better metrics?Pphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01023162636086533197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-76379845504286745022018-07-15T08:33:01.950-07:002018-07-15T08:33:01.950-07:00Oh yes, 'biographical' is what I meant -- ...Oh yes, 'biographical' is what I meant -- thank you! I've corrected it now. (3 years later...)Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-84264445393607467062016-07-23T01:23:52.046-07:002016-07-23T01:23:52.046-07:00how accurate ^^^how accurate ^^^Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-59942780590456971712015-08-27T07:48:13.877-07:002015-08-27T07:48:13.877-07:00This poem is so direct, a rapier; yet once again, ...This poem is so direct, a rapier; yet once again, your commentary adds to one's appreciation. Thanks for all of that, poem after poem. <br /><br />But did you mean "biographical" in that last paragraph? Having said that, however, I'm reminded of Barry Lopez' writing somewhere that since humans have only had language for not sure how many hundreds of thousands of years, we have not evolved anything like our ability to heal from even serious "biological" harm. Scratch or cut an arm, even amputate, and in time it heals. But sharp words can keep one away from a nearby relative for 15 years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com