Grand Epiphanies

I have not completely disappeared. I have just become absorbed in my academic life and with my present problem of understanding Emily Dickinson.

I am finally breaking through to some discoveries on the Emily front. Some grand epiphanies.

Have you had a grand epiphany lately?

Do tell us some of your grand epiphanies, Theresa!

Oh, margad, thank you for asking. They are rather half baked at the moment (LOL) but have much to do with the intensity underlying her poems. Also with some of her influences, which include some rather dark literature that she read (about murder) that may have inspired some of her poems. I am starting to relate more to her struggles as a poet and as a woman. I am finding ways to talk to her and to let her talk to me. I am recording all of it in two blogs, one public (where I do a lot of the donkey work of trying to understand) and one hidden, secret blog where I convert the impressions to more poetic expressions. I am hoping to continue this process for at least a year and to end up with something I can make a copy of and bind into a book. It's exciting!

BTW, I have been so impressed by the contributions you have made on our story here at LT. Your writing is very strong; you are so talented.

Thanks - I'm having so much fun with the story! I've never done this before, and it's a kick. Being forced to follow the unexpected twists other people come up with is strangely freeing.

I'm interested to know what dark literature Emily read. Her poetry is so graceful and haiku-like that if one doesn't spend much time reflecting on it, her ideas can appear quite delicate. But they weren't.

What is the link to your public blog? I know it's probably posted here somewhere, but I'm so lazy ...

margad, I was reading a splendid article by David S. Reynolds called "Emily Dickinson and popular culture." Reynolds says that Emily's letters admit to a fascination with sensational literature. Renolds writes: "Always hungry for sensational news, she elsewhere thanked her brother Austin for a juicy news clipping about a manslaughter and asked him to send 'anything else that's startling which you may chance to know--I dont think deaths or murders can ever come amiss in a young woman's journal.'" Reynolds posits that this "startling" reading paved the way for the haunted themes in some of her poetry. A particular sensationalist novel Reynolds mentions that had an effect on her poetry is one by George Lippard called The Quaker City. This book is in print and I have ordered a copy of it.

Her interest in gory literature and happenings surprises and enthralls me.

I agree that the group story is a lot of fun and absolutely freeing. I am really impressed by the vivid details in your contributions. I can really "see" these things you are writing about. This is a skill that I envy and one that doesn't come easily to me.

My public blog is: http://theresawilliams-author.blogspot.com/

Don't know if anything there will be beneficial to you. I changed the format to something more cryptic than what I used to write. I started getting weirded out by the thought of an audience and summarily dismissed all my readers so I could have the freedom to do my own thing. I even changed the description of the blog and stressed that people did NOT have to respond to my writings. It was something I had to do; either that or I would have to quit the blog. It has rejuvenated into something useful for me again. The hidden blog contains the best writing, but I'm keeping it under wraps for now so I can keep the mystery of wht I'm doing.

January 6 is usually a pretty slow time for me...

This certainly opens a whole new perspective on Emily Dickinson! If she were alive today, she would read Ann Rule and other true crime writers. I love the way she phrases the comment, I dont think deaths or murders can ever come amiss in a young woman's journal.

I'm so thrilled you can "see" what I'm writing, Theresa. To me, that's the most important thing after character, story and meaning. It may come hard to you, but there was a lot that I could see quite vividly in Hurricane.

I will check out the blog.