Emily Dickinson Archives - Evanston Public Library

National Poetry Month: April 4th

April 4, 2016

The Bumble Bee’s Religion by Emily Dickinson

His little Hearse like Figure
Unto itself a Dirge
To a delusive Lilac
The vanity divulge
Of Industry and Morals
And every righteous thing
For the divine Perdition
Of Idleness and Spring–

hovering bee

This poem was selected by Nancy E. (North Branch)

Poetry Copyright Notice

Signed, Sealed, Delivered – Emily Dickinson Envelope Poems

December 10, 2013

Fifty-two “envelope poems” written by Emily Dickinson in the early 1860s have been published in a coffee table size book titled Emily Dickinson: The Gorgeous Nothings. These “pocket-size” poems written on parts of envelopes have been in print since the 1950s, but “this is the first book devoted to full-color, actual-size facsimiles of a specific body of her work.” One of the poems begins” The way/Hope builds his/House” and is written on a “piece of house-shaped paper.” For more about these poems and the poet who “pushed the envelope”, check out this article in the New York Times. EPL is purchasing this book for its collection.

Laura

Go Online with Emily

October 25, 2013

Dickinson – that is. The Emily Dickinson Archive which was inaugurated Wednesday gives scholars and lay readers access to “high-resolution photos of thousands of the poet’s manuscripts, including envelopes or bits of paper with poems jotted on them, letters, doodles, and many, many exuberant em-dashes.” The project reignited a decades-long dispute between Harvard and Amherst, which hold the two largest collections of Dickinson’s papers. When Emily Dickinson died in 1886, she left behind “just 10 published poems and a vast and enigmatic handwritten paper trail.” And that’s when the trouble began. Read more about the quarrel here and check the EPL catalog for works by this fascinating poet.

Laura

National Poetry Month: April 24th

April 24, 2012

“Hope is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson

“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 a 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 poem was selected by Laura H. (Readers’ Services)

Poetry Copyright Notice

National Poetry Month: April 10th

April 10, 2012

“My friend must be a Bird” by Emily Dickinson

My friend must be a Bird–

Because it flies!

Mortal, my friend must be,

Because it dies!

Barbs has it, like a Bee!

Ah, curious friend!

Thou puzzlest me!

This poem was selected by Callie B-W