tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post6663520618978942386..comments2024-03-28T11:04:36.401-07:00Comments on the prowling Bee: They shut me up in Prose —Susan Kornfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-36964014281371387692023-09-16T18:40:45.892-07:002023-09-16T18:40:45.892-07:00Thanks, Larry! Fixed nowThanks, Larry! Fixed nowSusan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-79541805744649505362023-09-09T17:33:39.757-07:002023-09-09T17:33:39.757-07:00“No more have I [the freedom to leave Amherst any ...“No more have I [the freedom to leave Amherst any time I want.]”Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-68170340155222179052023-09-09T15:22:53.913-07:002023-09-09T15:22:53.913-07:00Wonderful explication, Susan.
ED was ticked off ...Wonderful explication, Susan. <br /><br />ED was ticked off at “Himself” (Wadsworth) for “removing” from Philadelphia to San Francisco, but she wasted no time replacing him with, perhaps, a better poetry tutor, and, certainly, a more dependable friend, Thomas W. Higginson. She’s also ticked off because she doesn’t have that same freedom of leaving Amherst.Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-88323260030164508982023-09-09T07:53:43.525-07:002023-09-09T07:53:43.525-07:00Stanza 2 of ‘They shut me up in Prose’ (F445):
“S...Stanza 2 of ‘They shut me up in Prose’ (F445):<br /><br />“Still! Could themself have peeped —<br />And seen my Brain — go round —<br />They might as wise have lodged a Bird<br />For Treason — in the Pound —”<br /><br />reminds me of the last seven lines of Stanza 3, ‘One Year ago—jots what?’ (F301):<br /><br />"Mine—was an Acorn’s Breast—<br />And could not know how fondness grew<br />In Shaggier Vest—<br />Perhaps—I couldn’t—<br />But, had you looked in—<br />A Giant—eye to eye with you, had been—<br />No Acorn—then—"<br />Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-28534777374066769112023-09-08T20:51:38.057-07:002023-09-08T20:51:38.057-07:00Somewhere between the cutting and the pasting, one...Somewhere between the cutting and the pasting, one line of the above poem was misplaced. The poem that ED wrote and Franklin published reads:<br /><br />They shut me up in Prose —<br />As when a little Girl<br />They put me in the Closet —<br />Because they liked me "still" —<br /><br />Still! Could themself have peeped —<br />And seen my Brain — go round —<br />They might as wise have lodged a Bird<br />For Treason — in the Pound —<br /><br />Himself has but to will<br />And easy as a Star<br />Abolish his Captivity —<br />And laugh — No more have I —<br /><br /><br />Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-44756769340252310572014-06-07T11:14:16.236-07:002014-06-07T11:14:16.236-07:00Another possible interpretation for the last line ...Another possible interpretation for the last line is "The bird has only to will its escape - and laugh. I have done no more than that myself - willed to escape and laughed." I suspect pounds in those days were simply fenced enclosures, good for keeping most animals enclosed - but not birds. Riverwomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03302739221107883656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-22159055756294326602013-05-08T07:03:55.107-07:002013-05-08T07:03:55.107-07:00I think you are right.
By the way, "Stil... I think you are right.<br /><br /> By the way, "Still! Could themself have peeped -- / And seen my brain -- go round" reminds me of Keats: "gleaned my teeming brain". It is interesting to read to different poets describe the same experience.<br /><br /> This is a wonderful poem. Thanks for your analysis.<br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-11041750657624647772013-05-07T19:26:56.645-07:002013-05-07T19:26:56.645-07:00I feel pretty strongly that it means "'no...I feel pretty strongly that it means "'no more have I" to do than to will it, and I, too, can escape my impoundment." I don't think the tone or sense of the poem support the idea that she can no longer escape. <br />What about you?Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-41684480685556321822013-05-07T19:16:17.786-07:002013-05-07T19:16:17.786-07:00What do you make of the last line: "No more h...What do you make of the last line: "No more have I"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com