tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post8979280919584229834..comments2024-03-28T18:48:28.471-07:00Comments on the prowling Bee: A wounded Deer –leaps highest –Susan Kornfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-31508394451285187422022-12-09T16:27:25.156-08:002022-12-09T16:27:25.156-08:00We read poetry for both its sound and sense, and i...We read poetry for both its sound and sense, and it’s difficult to imagine a greater density of both in only 62 words. To hear the sound, it’s helpful for me to first see the sense in simple words:<br /><br />Inner pain begets great poetry - <br />I’ve heard it said - <br />It’s only me dying<br />Before silence sets in!<br /><br />Miracles like gushing rocks<br />And trampled steel that rebounds<br />And healthy-looking red cheeks<br />Help hide tubercular pain!<br /><br />Humor masks that inner pain - <br />Protects me from inquiring eyes, <br />That might observe my bleeding wound<br />And publicly exclaim, "you're hurt"!<br />Larry Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-57120948509360141392020-11-01T20:55:05.849-08:002020-11-01T20:55:05.849-08:00Yes, proper grammar would demand 'arms' --...Yes, proper grammar would demand 'arms' -- but I think Dickinson is calling on the subjunctive here. More importantly, at least to a poet, 'arms' doesn't have the force, soundwise, as 'arm'. I'm with Dickinson on this one for that reason. If you want to be grammatically precise, you would pick at 'cautious', too. 'Cautiously arms itself' would be correct but I for one wouldn't prefer it! <br /><br />The short iambs in "In which it cautious arm" slows down the reading and gives a more cautious feel. The elisions cause the reader to pause in reading and that draws attention to the line. It's an important line and warrants the attention.Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-74298658774315664302020-11-01T18:07:19.050-08:002020-11-01T18:07:19.050-08:00Do you think E made a grammatical mistake? Isn...Do you think E made a grammatical mistake? Isn't 'it' the subject of the verb 'Arm' and since 'it' refers to 'Mirth' and therefore singular, shouldn't the verb be 'Arms'? Maybe she took some poetic license but I think that poets shouldn't take with a grammatical rule so foundational to English.kyle foleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15561804567048727089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-1079799616988609372019-07-23T15:07:08.874-07:002019-07-23T15:07:08.874-07:00This is very helpful. Love your project. I’m study...This is very helpful. Love your project. I’m studying one a day, and I’m learning a lot.Laura Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07410854758145970969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-29352796790175083712018-04-07T16:39:54.485-07:002018-04-07T16:39:54.485-07:00Brilliant stuff, thank you for doing this!Brilliant stuff, thank you for doing this!Barb Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16171439294075251084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-80803945257291175372017-12-08T16:06:10.742-08:002017-12-08T16:06:10.742-08:00Ah, now you made me read ahead. But it's a poe...Ah, now you made me read ahead. But it's a poem I love and am familiar with. In the stanza you refer to, the speaker is saying that she couldn't bear for her beloved to die first -- to go into the frozen coldness of the ground (it freezes where Dickinson lived) while she is denied Death's privilege of frost. So, yes, 'freeze' is used as a verb. The corpse is supposed to have frozen in the ground. Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-20597551532297571802017-12-08T08:29:58.372-08:002017-12-08T08:29:58.372-08:00May I ask for your help once more! Do you happen t...May I ask for your help once more! Do you happen to have a clue as to whether the word "freeze" in poem 640 (I can not live with you) is a verb _the word "you" next to the word "freeze" to be guessed_ and what exactly it could possibly mean in that case?έσονται είς σάρκα μίανhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591677667990441187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-39166995899878992842017-10-11T08:35:31.224-07:002017-10-11T08:35:31.224-07:00The two images are not linked except that each exe...The two images are not linked except that each exemplifies the idea of a wounded deer leaping highest. It is a rock that is hit that gushes; it is a steel trap that is trampled by an animal that snaps (springs) shut. Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-4027089676243136192017-10-11T05:41:01.087-07:002017-10-11T05:41:01.087-07:00Hi! A visitor from Macedonia here, love your proje...Hi! A visitor from Macedonia here, love your project! I was wondering, can you explain the following contrasting lines wider to me, <br />"the smitten rock that gushes,<br />the trampled steel that springs"<br />I know their meanings, I just don't see how the God's smitten rock is a trampled steel. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09957469985568079845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-32495913488011379832017-09-07T07:54:06.647-07:002017-09-07T07:54:06.647-07:00Mail is an armor -- one arms oneself in mail (and/...Mail is an armor -- one arms oneself in mail (and/or weapons). "Cautious" is an adverb -- proper English would be 'cautiously' -- with the adverbial 'ly' ending. "It" refers to 'anguish'. That's my thinking. It just wouldn't sound as good for her to have written "in which it cautiously arms itself".Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-22018605548876093152017-09-07T03:18:33.390-07:002017-09-07T03:18:33.390-07:00Ηοw do we know it is a verb? Is cautious placed as...Ηοw do we know it is a verb? Is cautious placed as an adverb? Does "it" refer to anguish?_(Thanks for the answer above).έσονται είς σάρκα μίανhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591677667990441187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-23729131481253739512017-09-06T18:32:08.770-07:002017-09-06T18:32:08.770-07:00Anguish cautiously arms itself with Mirth -- a gre...Anguish cautiously arms itself with Mirth -- a great image but Dickinson is not using standard English or sentence structure. The key is that "Arm" is a verb and not a noun here.Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-50587646389524470882017-09-06T16:04:53.676-07:002017-09-06T16:04:53.676-07:00Sorry_Arm.Sorry_Arm.έσονται είς σάρκα μίανhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591677667990441187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-2218462492636335642017-09-06T16:04:26.783-07:002017-09-06T16:04:26.783-07:00What about the Cautious Hand_ some help with that?...What about the Cautious Hand_ some help with that?έσονται είς σάρκα μίανhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591677667990441187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-13735537328029285622017-01-02T15:31:56.364-08:002017-01-02T15:31:56.364-08:00I agree -- and thought I'd communicated that w...I agree -- and thought I'd communicated that with " “Mirth” protects the anguished from being spotted and pitied, just as chain mail protects the knight from injury." It is a wonderful line; it's a good one to trot out from time to time among friends.<br />Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-17331260710153780172017-01-02T14:15:25.251-08:002017-01-02T14:15:25.251-08:00I would like to offer an alternative reading of th...I would like to offer an alternative reading of that wonderful line, "Mirth is the Mail of Anguish –"<br /><br />According to Webster's 1850 dictionary, "mail" is defined as "to put on a coat of mail or armor; to arm defensively." This more clearly communicates the brave face you mention. Once again, Emily Dickinson finds a word that so perfectly expresses a thought through both sound and sense.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10047678873938396282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-57609595289220327762016-11-04T07:01:12.360-07:002016-11-04T07:01:12.360-07:00Hnnggg, thank you for elevating my appreciation fo...Hnnggg, thank you for elevating my appreciation for this one. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-2512598050509830112016-02-02T17:22:41.108-08:002016-02-02T17:22:41.108-08:00Great Job, Thank you for doing this project
Great Job, Thank you for doing this project <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893246550834189938noreply@blogger.com