4/05/2006

against orthodoxy - more dickinson

' her refusal to compromise her highly condensed expression and idiosyncratic punctuation meant that her works were mangled by editors until she withdrew from ' the auction' of publication. at the time of her death in 1886 only about one percent of her 1,775 known poems had been published. in 1955 an accurate edition finally appeared.'


Publication -- is the Auction
Of the Mind of Man --
Poverty -- be justifying
For so foul a thing

Possibly -- but We -- would rather
From Our Garret go
White -- Unto the White Creator --
Than invest -- Our Snow --

Thought belong to Him who gave it --
Then -- to Him Who bear
Its Corporeal illustration -- Sell
The Royal Air --

In the Parcel -- Be the Merchant
Of the Heavenly Grace --
But reduce no Human Spirit
To Disgrace of Price --


'as a religious sceptic since adolescense in a community whose social and spiritual life was based on churchgoing and revivalism, she wrote many poems about being shut out of a lost heaven.' helen mcneil - editor of the everyman's poetry
dickinson collection. the book has a great chronology of both the poets life and of her times.


The Bible is an antique Volume --
Written by faded men
At the suggestion of Holy Spectres --
Subjects -- Bethlehem --
Eden -- the ancient Homestead --
Satan -- the Brigadier --
Judas -- the Great Defaulter --
David -- the Troubador --
Sin -- a distinguished Precipice
Others must resist --
Boys that "believe" are very lonesome --
Other Boys are "lost" --
Had but the Tale a warbling Teller --
All the Boys would come --
Orpheus' Sermon captivated --
It did not condemn --

3/22/2006

emily dickinson


i found the poetry of emily dickinson through the song by paul simon ' for emily wherever i may find her ' which i sometimes sing unaccompanied.
i was always intrigued by the title and assumed he was referring to a woman he had once loved. the truth, if it is the truth, is more profound and poignant - that it is possible to fall in love with someone who lived in another century, through their writing and then to look for that spirit in a contemporary person.


Come slowly, Eden!
lips unused to thee,
Bashful, sip thy jasmines,
As the fainting bee,

Reaching late his flower,
Round her chamber hums,
Counts his nectars --enters,
And is lost in balms!

emily dickinson


what a dream i had
pressed in organdy
clothed in crinoline of smokey burgundy
softer that the rain
i walked down empty streets
passed the shop displays
i heard cathedral bells
tripping down the alleyways
as i walked on
and when you ran to me your
cheeks flushed with the night
we walked on frosted fields
of juniper and lamplight
i held your hand
and when i awoke
and felt you warm and near
i kissed your honey hair
with my greatful tears
o i love you girl
o i love you

paul simon


Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Though virtually unknown in her lifetime, Dickinson has come to be regarded with Walt Whitman as one of the two great American poets of the 19th century. Her life has inspired numerous biographers and voluminous speculation; mostly about her sexuality, of which little is definitively known. Although she wrote 1775 poems during her lifetime, she only published 7 of them and they were published anonymously.

3/20/2006

spring


sun through tulips, kitchen window, west wales 15.3.06

1/30/2006

tv

ceri rhys matthews of fernhill will appear on wedi 3 on s4c digital tv weds afternoon
he will be talking about his forthcoming concert series at theatr mwldan which stars in march
http://www.mwldan.co.uk

fernhill trio tour czech republic

here are dates and details

7.03.06  brno/ alterna / www.alterna.cz

8.03.06   hradec/ kralove/ divadlo drak

9.03.06   prague/ divadlo na prádle