tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post9154105706449753089..comments2024-03-28T14:04:54.557-07:00Comments on the prowling Bee: It was not Death, for I stood upSusan Kornfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-63369196619257253682023-06-18T13:13:50.149-07:002023-06-18T13:13:50.149-07:00∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
It was not Frost, for on my Flesh
I fel...∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ <br />It was not Frost, for on my Flesh<br />I felt Siroccos—crawl—<br />Nor Fire—for just my Marble feet<br />Could keep a Chancel, cool—<br />∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ <br />But, most, [it felt] like Chaos—Stopless—cool—<br />Without a Chance, or Spar—<br />Or even a Report of Land—<br />To justify—Despair.<br /><br /><br />“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.” (Henry Thoreau, ‘Walden’, 1854)<br /><br />I doubt judgmental Henry had ED’s depth of despair in mind when he published Walden in 1854, but ED may have read Thoreau’s book in 1862. Her new mentor, Thomas Higginson was a Thoreau fan as early as April 1852 when he invited Thoreau to give a lecture in Boston. Thoreau, strapped for funds, answered affirmatively:<br /><br />Concord 2:00 pm. Apr 3rd ’52<br /><br />Dear Sir,<br /><br />I certainly do not feel prepared to offer myself as a lecturer to the Boston public and hardly know whether to dread a small audience or a large one. Nevertheless, I will suppress this squeamishness, and propose no alternative in your arrangements. I shall be glad to accept your invitation to tea.<br /><br />Yrs,<br />Henry D Thoreau<br />Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-5472253255348325242021-01-29T08:21:17.149-08:002021-01-29T08:21:17.149-08:00I agree that this poem is among her strongest. Tha...I agree that this poem is among her strongest. Thank you for the Hawkins -- fascinating man. will look into the book. <br /><br />I think ED's poetic genius was both salvation and curse for her -- for us, an always inspiration and Guide to the depths. Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-8583070038439879272021-01-28T17:48:52.002-08:002021-01-28T17:48:52.002-08:00To me this is one of her strongest. I am reminded ...To me this is one of her strongest. I am reminded of Dr. David R. Hawkins. He described being in a place beyond despair, so vast in its complete meaninglessness that it was beyond “report of land.” In his agony, he cried out “If there is a God, save me!” A powerful angel reached down and lifted him up into ecstasy. He went on to write and teach. “Power vs Force” is his masterpiece. In ED’s case, her Poetic Genius was her saving angel.Linn Sennotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18444353637114348593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-25135807190857767722015-01-28T07:46:35.070-08:002015-01-28T07:46:35.070-08:00I liked that 'witness': yes, I feel someti...I liked that 'witness': yes, I feel sometimes as if that is her mission, to descend; look, know, and feel; and to return again to "make of her own soul a poem". Great -- thanks.Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-38916734853547474402015-01-28T05:31:16.341-08:002015-01-28T05:31:16.341-08:00And yet for all the description of this ineffable ...And yet for all the description of this ineffable timeless state in which feeling trumped with its amazing intimacy, it tasted, the voice transcends the state, is witness to it, which is the larger frame based in knowing and trusting the artful miraculous expression of that knowing. Reading this one is left staring into the unfatomable and how, unbelievably, Em can make of her own soul a poem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com