The Emily Dickinson Museum

05/10/2019

“It makes no difference abroad -
The Seasons - fit - the same -
The Mornings blossom into
Noons -
And split their Pods of Flame -

Wild flowers - kindle in the
Woods -
The Brooks slam - all the Day -
No Black bird bates His
Banjo -
For passing Calvary -

Auto da Fe - and Judgment -
Are nothing to the Bee -
His separation from His Rose -
To Him - sums Misery -“

The cultivated world of plants, as well as the wildflowers, trees, and shrubs that made up Emily Dickinson’s Amherst, provided the poet with a constant source of inspiration and companionship. Free and open to all, the gardens at the Emily Dickinson Museum today are filled with the wildflowers that Emily loved. In honor of #nationalwildflowerweek, we invite you all to stop by the gardens this week and enjoy the landscape that inspired Dickinson’s poetry.

(Fr 686A - "It makes no difference abroad")

05/09/2019

Of her teachers at Amherst Academy (pictured here), Emily Dickinson wrote, "you know I am always in love with my teachers" (L15). During her younger years, Dickinson was a student at the Academy, where many of the teachers were recent graduates of Amherst College or female seminaries. Teachers there taught for a year or less, but they were young and intellectually curious, and their progressive teaching styles gave Emily a sense of academic freedom that proved invaluable to her poetic work.

#emilydickinson #teacherappreciationweek #teacherappreciation

05/08/2019

Emily Dickinson once referred to books as “The strongest Friends of the Soul.”

Since May is #nationalgetcaughtreadingmonth, we couldn't celebrate without sharing an image from Emily Dickinson's family library. This small room is on the first floor of the Homestead and, in Emily's life, would have been full of an ample and eclectic collection.

We at the Museum dream of restoring the books to these shelves, and, with the help of the Polly Longsworth Replenishing the Shelves project, have begun to do just that. For more information and guidelines on how you can contribute to this preservation project, please visit our website.

05/08/2019

Read Emily’s Mind - The American Scholar

#Writers, have you written today? Here is a prompt inspired by Emily Dickinson if you need a little help to get going. https://theamericanscholar.org/read-emilys-mind/?utm_source=social_media&medium=twitter#.XNMAkY5KjIU

Fragments are underrated. Among aspiring poets, who wouldn’t be tempted to finish what an admirable precursor began and abandoned? If the best prompts are also the most challenging, it would be hard to outdo an Emily Dickinson fragment. You can only guess at what she might have written, though you...

05/08/2019

16 Poet Biopics, Ranked

On the Literary Hub today, Emily Temple shares sixteen poet biopics (including two about Emily Dickinson) and discusses the difficulty of translating a literary life into film: "Writing is a famously difficult pursuit to capture on screen, and artists in general—but poets in particular—are too often subject to a tender, teary cultural mythologizing."

Which ones have you seen? Are your favorites missing from this list?

Most movies about poets are . . . not great. Writing is a famously difficult pursuit to capture on screen, and artists in general—but poets in particular—are too often subject to a tender, teary cu…

05/07/2019

Everyone has a place that is important to them. Everyone has a place that matters. For us, the Emily Dickinson Museum is that place. Because of your support, the Emily Dickinson Museum has become a center for work, study, research, and play.

In celebration of the National Trust's #thisplacematters campaign, we're honoring the place that means the most to us. This Place Matters is a national campaign that encourages people to celebrate the places that are meaningful to them and to their communities. What are the places that matter to you? As you spread the word, make sure to use the #ThisPlaceMatters hashtag, and visit the link in our comments to learn more about supporting the places that matter most.

05/06/2019

That’s a wrap on the #artofrainpoetry! Thank you to all who spotted our poems around Amherst and tagged us on social media. Thank you, too, to all the poets who submitted their incredible work! What a great way to wrap up a very rainy Artweek.

If you missed the poems or couldn’t find them yourselves, don’t fret! We’ve compiled some of them here for prosperity.

05/06/2019

“We should not mind so small a flower -
Except it quiet bring
Our little garden that we lost
Back to the Lawn again -

So spicy her Carnations nod -
So drunken reel her Bees -
So silver, steal a hundred Flutes
From out a hundred trees -

That whoso sees this little flower
By faith, may clear behold
The Bobolinks around the throne
And Dandelions gold.”

(Fr82A - "We should not mind so small a flower")

#poems #poetry #poet #poemoftheday #dandelion #emilydickinson #amherstma

05/03/2019

We know, we know. We're one day early, but we can't help ourselves from posting our favorite poem about force.
.
.
"Such is the Force of
Happiness -
The Least - can lift a
ton
Assisted by it's stimulus -

Who Misery - sustain -
No Sinew can afford -
The Cargo of Themselves -
Too infinite for
Consciousness'
benumbed abilities - Slow capabilities -"
.
.
(F889A - "Such is the force of happiness")

Photo credit: @lucylarken
.
.
#maythe4thbewithyou #maythefourthbewithyou #maytheforcebewithyou #emilydickinson #poetry #amherstma #northamptonma

05/03/2019

Short Books for Kids That Make a Big Impact

Parents: this is a wonderful list of short books that will make a big impact on your children, including 'Sweeping Up the Heart' by Kevin Henkes, a book about an awkward and isolated girl who develops a strong kinship with Emily Dickinson. Sounds like a story line we can relate to!

In refreshingly brief new novels, kids solve family mysteries, save younger siblings and help a grandparent break out of a hospital.

05/02/2019

“There is no Frigate
like a Book
To take us Lands
away
Nor any Coursers like
a Page
Of prancing Poetry -
This Travel may the
poorest take
Without offence of Toll -
How frugal is the
Chariot
That bears the Human Soul -“

Books were vital in the Dickinson home—a source of pride, pleasure, discussion, and even competitiveness among family members. Through the three decades that Emily Dickinson wrote her poetry, ample, eclectic libraries stood open to her perusal in the Homestead and The Evergreens. The books pictured here can be found on display in Emily Dickinson's newly restored bedroom and serve as an invitation to take the reader "lands away."

(F1286B - "There is no frigate like a book")

#emilydickinson #nationalgetcaughtreadingmonth #getcaughtreading #getcaughtreadingmonth #books #bookshelves

05/02/2019

Bridging the Connecticut River: Northampton’s new poet laureate, KatrenSkolfield, hails from Amherst

Congratulations to Northampton's new Poet Laureate, Amherst resident Karen Skolfield!

Karen Skolfield has covered some varied ground in her poetry: war and its aftermath, motherhood, mortality, love. She’s won a number of awards for her work, and one reviewer, after reading her debut collection, “Frost in the Low Areas,” said this:...

05/02/2019

8 Places to Celebrate American Poets

Thanks to Novel Destinations for naming us one of the eight best places to celebrate American poets! We're biased, of course, but we wholeheartedly agree.

Where better to read Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” than in the setting that inspired the author to put pen to paper. Or stand in the cozy study in the house (pictured above) where Henry Wadsworth L…

05/01/2019

For Emily Dickinson, a regular writing practice began with writing letters. From the time she was a child, she set aside entire mornings or afternoons to pen intimate missives to friends and family members. Not one for fancy stationery, she wrote most of her letters on sheets of plain paper, oftentimes venturing onto the envelopes to document her sensitive observations of the world and her place in it.

#nationalstationeryweek #nationalstationeryday #emilydickinson #letters #thelettersofemilydickinson

05/01/2019

These High Schoolers Have A Passion For 'Poetry Out Loud'

Good luck to the nine students who are competing today in the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest to be National Champions! For the competition this year, students memorized and will recite classic poetry, including William Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, and Emily Dickinson.

The Poetry Out Loud contest is kind of like a poetry spelling bee. Kids from across the country compete at reciting their chosen poems, and the winner takes home a prize of $20,000.

05/01/2019

We Added New Words to the Dictionary in April 2019

"A word is dead, when it is said
Some say -
I say it just begins to live
That day"

(F278A - "A word is dead when it is said")

More than 640 new words, from 'bioabsorbable' to 'bottle episode'

04/30/2019

“By Chivalries as tiny,
A Blossom, or a Book,
The seeds of smiles are planted —
Which blossom in the dark.”

(J55 - “By Chivalries as tiny”)

Don’t forget: tomorrow is the last day to apply for our Homestead Conservatory Art Installation. The selected artist’s work will be on display during the summer of 2019 and should reflect the importance of this diminutive space in the life of Emily Dickinson. Visit our website for more information.

04/30/2019

The Missing Link Between Art and Poetry: Emily Dickinson

An incredible piece on Emily Dickinson's lasting artistic legacy and the contemporary art her poetry inspired.

Here are five pieces of art that have everything to do with Emily Dickinson’s artistic legacy.

04/30/2019

Public by Varying Degrees: Understanding Audience in Relation to Emily Dickinson's Artistic Subject « Kenyon Review Blog

Who was Emily Dickinson writing to? In the case of her letters, her audience was sometimes obvious, but when it comes to the poems she hid in her bureau, who she intended to read them was less apparent. In this essay, Kristina Marie Darling argues that her audience included "herself, God, posterity, and those with whom she corresponded directly."

Because Dickinson sent poems dealing with immortality to more public literary figures, keeping poems about death and uncertainty for herself, I believe that it is entirely plausible that Dickinson conceived of her poems in various categories, some suited to a more public audience than others.

04/29/2019

Congratulations to Sunny McGovern and Alex Olkovsky, who were engaged in our garden this weekend! What a beautiful place to celebrate and solidify your love. Best wishes to you both!

“Love - thou art high -
I cannot climb thee -
But, were it Two -
Who knows but we -
Taking turns - at the Chim -
borazo -
Ducal - at last - stand
up by thee -

Love - thou art deep -
I cannot cross thee -
But, were there Two
Instead of One -
Rower, and Yacht - some
sovreign Summer -
Who knows - but we'd reach
the Sun?”

Excerpt from Fr452A, "Love thou art high.” Photo credit: Deb Hanna Photography.

04/29/2019

Into thin air: Carol Ann Duffy presents poems about our vanishing insect world

What a wonderful collection of poems to honor and celebrate the insect world from Carol Ann Duffy. We of course have a favorite, too:

"Death is like the insect
Menacing the tree,
Competent to kill it,
But decoyed may be.

Bait it with the balsam
Seek it with the saw,
Baffle, if it cost you
Everything you are.

Then, if it have burrowed
Out of reach of skill -
Wring the tree and leave it.
'Tis the vermin's will."

(Fr1783A, "Death is like the insect")

To mark the end of her poet laureateship, Duffy introduces new poems celebrating the beauty and variety of an insect world facing extinction by Alice Oswald, Daljit Nagra, Paul Muldoon and more

04/29/2019

Don't ditch the adverb, the emoji of writing | Gary Nunn

"Should we brazenly ditch the adverb?" Gary Nunn asks in this playful piece, citing Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me" as reason why we shouldn't.

The adverb gets people fired up, and the chorus calling for a ban is getting too loud to ignore

04/27/2019

We had a great time at the Florence Poetry Carnival today! It was wonderful to see so many of our poetry partners reprented there like @forbeslibrary, @florencepiebar, @artweekma, Perugia Press, Florence Poetry Society, and more! A special shout out to @redbrickpoetryproject and artist Bob Ziller for our poetry exchange box. Thank you @florence_poetry_carnival and we hope to be back next year! #ArtweekMA #florencepoetrycarnival #EmilyDickinson #EmilyDickinsonMuseum #florencema #redbrickpoetrybox7

04/26/2019

5 Things You Should Do on Independent Bookstore Day | Book Riot

Tomorrow is #IndependentBookstoreDay, and we couldn't celebrate it without some of our favorites: Amherst Books, Odyssey Bookshop, and Broadside Bookshop! What independent bookstores are you supporting tomorrow?

If you don’t already have your Independent Bookstore Day planned, here are a handful of things you can do to celebrate all the reasons to love them.

04/26/2019

That time when Emily Dickinson predicted the end of #avengersinfinitywar:

"No Trace - no Figment - of the Thing
That dazzled, Yesterday,
No Ring - no Marvel -
Men, and Feats -
Dissolved as utterly -
As Bird's far Navigation
Discloses just a Hue -
A plash of Oars, a Gaiety -
Then swallowed up, of View."

This excerpt is from poem F257A, "I've known a heaven like a tent."

#marvel #marvelmemes #avengersendgame #avengers #avengersmemes #emilydickinson #poetry

04/25/2019

Get Lit slam poetry showdown brings teen performers to downtown L.A.

This sounds like an incredible event:

"Unlike most poetry slams, Get Lit invites students to recite classic poems, and then perform verses they've written in response. But the classic poems the students choose aren't just textbook staples like Shakespeare sonnets or John Donne odes. Slam attendees are just as likely to hear the work of Rudy Francisco and Tupac Shakur as they are to hear poems by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman."

Wish we could be there!

Teens from over 50 high schools gather in Los Angeles for the Get Lit Classic Slam, a poetry festival with more than 300 student performers.

04/25/2019

We’re hard at work installing our Art of Rain poems! Check out these behind-the-scene shots of the poems being painted onto sidewalks around Amherst using invisible paint. If you spot one around town after it rains, tag us at The Emily Dickinson Museum or with the hashtag #artofrainpoetry, and we’ll share your post on our page! Thanks, Artweek!

04/25/2019

If you couldn't make it to Poem in Your Pocket Day, join us at the Florence Poetry Carnival tomorrow, from 2:00 - 4:30! You can test knowledge of Emily Dickinson's lexicon, create poetry wreaths, craft fascicles, and pick words you want to see "live that day." Also, there will be a poetry exchange thanks to #redbrickpoetrybox7. Take a poem and leave us one of your own!

04/25/2019

Did you catch a showing of 'Wild Nights with Emily' at Amherst Cinema? Did it leave you curious to know more about Emily Dickinson's poetry and personal life? Bring your ticket stub to the Museum and get a 10% discount on a tour of the Homestead and Evergreens through the end of May! We're open Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Opening tomorrow: WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY.

Beloved comic Molly Shannon leads in this humorous yet bold reappraisal of Amherst's own Emily Dickinson, informed by her private letters.

https://amherstcinema.org/films-and-events/wild-nights-emily

04/24/2019

We are delighted to announce the contemporary poets whose work was selected for our Massachusetts ArtWeek public art project, The Art of Rain Poetry! Our thanks to all who submitted their work. We sure love our poetry community! Find the poems by these authors on rainy day pavements in downtown Amherst very soon. #ArtofRainPoetry #ArtweekMA #EmilyDickinson #EmilyDickinsonMuseum

04/23/2019

“Nobody knows this little rose;
It might a pilgrim be,
Did I not take it from the ways,
And lift it up to thee!”

Sant Jordi Day, or the Day of the Book and the Rose, is a day that celebrates love and literature. Originally celebrated in Barcelona and all over Catalonia, the day is marked by the exchange of books and roses as tokens of appreciation. These days, the celebration has gone global, as millions of people purchase books and events are planned in over fifty countries. Happy Sant Jordi Day to you!

This excerpt of Dickinson's poem is from Fr11A, Nobody knows this little rose

#santjordiday📖 #emilydickinson #thedayofthebookandtherose

04/22/2019

Ms. Difficult: Translating Emily Dickinson

"Above all, I am in agreement with the poet herself when, in a letter, she writes—in characteristically cryptic fashion—'Had I known I asked the impossible, should I perhaps have asked it, but Abyss is it’s [sic] own Apology.'" -Ana Luísa Amaral in The Paris Review, on the impossibility of translating Emily Dickinson's poetry.

Much of the difficulty in Emily Dickinson’s work can be attributed to her distinctive agrammaticality. This quality presents an even greater challenge for the translator.