Poetry Friday: Emily Dickinson’s Letters to the World
With Jeanette Winter‘s Biblioburro selected as one of our new 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set, I have had a great time exploring more of her work. One little book that has delighted me is Emily Dickinson’s Letters to the World (Frances Foster Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002)
It tells the story of the poet’s life through her sister, and begins with, “My sister Emily was buried today.” We are shown Emily’s room, and get a glimpse of her reclusive lifestyle – and then, in the course of the up to now rather sad narration, make the wonderful discovery alongside the sister, of the drawers full of poetry that nobody knew about while Emily was alive. Beginning with “This is my letter to the world”, it is a delightful way for young readers to be introduced to her poetry ,both for the poems themselves and their context.
The final two thirds of the book are given over to extracts from Dickinson’s poetry, ending with her sister’s avowal that “the world will read your letter – your poems.” And the whole book is a treat for anyone who loves Jeanette Winter’s illustrations. The poet’s voice is emphasised, with Emily Dickinson in her trademark white dress depicted in some way on almost every page.
Here’s the whole of one of those special poems:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Anastasia Suen at Picture Book of the Day – head on over…
September 23rd, 2011 at 11:10 am
[...] 1. In Ordinary Time by Gemino Abad (Gathering Books) 2. Tabatha (Engraving the Emptiness) 3. Amy LV (original poem, “Asters”) 4. Steven Withrow (Poetry Advocates) 5. Teaching Authors (Nikki Grimes) 6. Author Amok (Living Poetry Flash Mob Classroom Instructions) 7. Dori Reads (Praise Poems) 8. Carol (Book Review- A Funeral in the Bathroom) 9. Mary Lee (Casting for Recovery and Emily Dickinson) 10. Robyn Hood Black (snakes and a Jane Hirshfield poem) 11. Maria Horvath’s Daily Poems: a love poem from thirteenth- century Andalusia 12. Diane Mayr (the equinox) 13. Kids of the Homefront Army (“What Makes an Enemy?”) 14. Kurious Kitty (“Painters”) 15. Heidi Mordhorst (birthday boy and guest poet) 16. KK’s Kwotes (quote by Muriel Rukeyser) 17. jama (Those Biscuits) 18. The Stenhouse Blog (Numbers) 19. Debbie Diller (Autumn) 20. Pentimento (Faint Music by Robert Hass) 21. Ruth (“Hold that Thought”) 22. Charles Ghigna (“Nature’s Touch”) 23. Teacher Dance (I Have Been Acquainted With The Night) 24. Secrets & Sharing Soda (Dear Hot Dog by Mordicai Gerstein) 25. Pink Me (Foggy Morning Drop- Off) 26. Wild Rose Reader (Cleaning House & Discovering Old Poems) 27. david e (the boys in the picture) 28. jone (Road Work Ahead) 29. Julie Larios at The Drift Record (Poetry Advocates) 30. Tara (cat tales in haiku) 31. Karen Edmisten (Nonsense, by Matt Cook) 32. Marjorie (Paper Tigers) – Emily Dickinson’s Letters to the World [...]
September 23rd, 2011 at 11:11 am
What a treasure!
Thanks for participating in Poetry Friday this week!
September 23rd, 2011 at 11:33 am
Wow, what a great book. Have to find it at my library!
September 23rd, 2011 at 3:28 pm
This looks like another beautiful part about Emily’s life. I looked up more about the book & was able to see a few other pages. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
September 24th, 2011 at 2:20 am
I didn’t know about this book until you mentioned the Paper Tigers Book Set – this is truly a treat. I should look out for this one.
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all” –> timeless timeless words.
I had my nine year old memorize this poem during the summer. I don’t know though if she still remembers it. Her 4th grade teacher is now letting them memorize William Makepeace Thackeray – so the poems might get all crowded in her mind right about now.