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Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them
"Emily Dickinson s Poems: As She Preserved Them" is a major new edition of Dickinson s verse intended for the scholar, student, and general reader. It foregrounds the copies of poems that Dickinson retained for herself during her lifetime, in the form she retained them. This is the only edition of Dickinson s complete poems to distinguish in easy visual form the approximately 1,100 poems she took pains to copy carefully onto folded sheets in fair hand arguably to preserve them for posterity from the poems she kept in rougher form or apparently did not retain. It is the first edition to include the alternate words and phrases Dickinson wrote on copies of the poems she retained. Readers can see, and determine for themselves, the extent to which a poem is resolved or fluid.
With its clear and uncluttered pages, the volume recommends itself as a valuable resource for the classroom and to general readers. A Dickinson scholar, Cristanne Miller supplies helpful notes that gloss the poet s quotations and allusions and the contexts of her writing. Miller s Introduction describes Dickinson s practices in copying and circulating poems and summarizes contentious debates within Dickinson scholarship.
"Emily Dickinson s Poems: As She Preserved Them" brings us closer to the writing practice of a crucially important American poet and provides new ways of thinking about Dickinson, allowing us to see more fully her methods of composing, circulating, and copying than previous editions have allowed. It will be valued by all readers of Dickinson s poetry."
With its clear and uncluttered pages, the volume recommends itself as a valuable resource for the classroom and to general readers. A Dickinson scholar, Cristanne Miller supplies helpful notes that gloss the poet s quotations and allusions and the contexts of her writing. Miller s Introduction describes Dickinson s practices in copying and circulating poems and summarizes contentious debates within Dickinson scholarship.
"Emily Dickinson s Poems: As She Preserved Them" brings us closer to the writing practice of a crucially important American poet and provides new ways of thinking about Dickinson, allowing us to see more fully her methods of composing, circulating, and copying than previous editions have allowed. It will be valued by all readers of Dickinson s poetry."
864 pages, Hardcover
Published April 11, 2016
About the author
Emily Dickinson
1,365 books6,024 followersEmily Dickinson was an American poet who, despite the fact that less than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime, is widely considered one of the most original and influential poets of the 19th century.
Dickinson was born to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence.
Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime.The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends.
Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Emily's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that the breadth of Dickinson's work became apparent. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, both of whom heavily edited the content.
A complete and mostly unaltered collection of her poetry became available for the first time in 1955 when The Poems of Emily Dickinson was published by scholar Thomas H. Johnson. Despite unfavorable reviews and skepticism of her literary prowess during the late 19th and early 20th century, critics now consider Dickinson to be a major American poet.
For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/emily-di...
Dickinson was born to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence.
Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime.The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends.
Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Emily's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that the breadth of Dickinson's work became apparent. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, both of whom heavily edited the content.
A complete and mostly unaltered collection of her poetry became available for the first time in 1955 when The Poems of Emily Dickinson was published by scholar Thomas H. Johnson. Despite unfavorable reviews and skepticism of her literary prowess during the late 19th and early 20th century, critics now consider Dickinson to be a major American poet.
For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/emily-di...
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 28, 2018
I have been reading and enjoying Emily Dickinson’s poetry for three decades. Because goodreads has mashed together the reviews of all the editions of Dickinson’s poetry, this is a joint review of the three modern collected editions of her poems; that is, I review here Thomas H. Johnson’s 1960 The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (ISBN 0-316-18414-4 and 978-0-316-18414-4; 1976 paperback 0-316-18413-6 and 978-0-316-18413-7); R. W. Franklin’s 1999 The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition (ISBN 0-674-67624-6 and 978-0-674-67624-4; 2005 paperback 0-674-01824-9 and 978-0-674-01824-2); and, Cristanne Miller’s Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them (ISBN 0-674-73796-2 and 978-0-674-73796-9).
I have read the Johnson and Miller editions straight through, Johnson in 2002 and Miller in 2016.
The chief difference between Franklin’s edition and Johnson’s is the order of the poems: Franklin concluded that Johnson had dated many of the poems wrongly. Since each edition presents the poems in roughly chronological order, according to the editor’s best judgement, the order of poems in Franklin’s book differs markedly from that of Johnson’s. Also, Franklin reproduces Emily’s peculiar spelling, which Johnson regularized; and, where Emily left a poem in an unpolished state, Franklin occasionally presents a slightly different text than Johnson did — deciding to use one word rather than another, for instance. And, if Emily left two or more fairly distinct versions of the same poem, Franklin may have presented a different one than Johnson did. (For example, Johnson # 446 vs. Franklin # 346.)
Miller’s edition differs even more dramatically in the order of the poems: Miller generally accepts Franklin’s dating of the poems, but she presents them in five sections based on how Emily “preserved them”. The first section presents the poems that Emily herself had assembled into little booklets called fascicles; the second section presents poems that Emily herself had saved on “unbound sheets” joined together with a brass fastener (though we don’t know whether Emily herself did the fastening); the third section presents “loose poems” that Emily had kept in her possession; the fourth section presents “poems transcribed by others” for which no manuscript in Emily’s hand has been found; finally, the fifth and last section presents "poems not retained" by the poet herself but given to others. The first three sections are by far the longest, and a majority of the poems appear in the first two sections.
One wouldn’t go wrong using any of these three complete editions — Johnson, Franklin, or Miller. I think Miller’s is best, though, in three respects. First, simply because most of the poems are presented by Miller in fairly small groups (sheets, leaves) whereas the only division of poems in Johnson’s and Franklin’s books are by year, which makes for a run-on effect after reading for a while. Second, Miller also presents variant readings — alternative lines and words written by the poet herself on the manuscript pages. (Thus, we get the most significant aspects of a “variorum” edition in a reader��s edition.) Third, Miller footnotes to whom (if anyone) the poet shared each poem, and she provides some helpful annotation about possible sources, references, and allusions, in endnotes.
Miller’s edition is a large and heavy book, though, which is its main drawback; also, as I write (November 2017), Johnson’s and Franklin’s editions are available as paperbacks, but Miller’s is not.
Franklin provides no cross-reference to the Johnson edition — an inexcusable omission, I think. Miller’s index of first lines provides the Johnson and Franklin numbers for cross-referencing; alas, though, she provides no numbering system for the poems in her own edition, a deliberate choice that I think was imprudent. I myself have resorted to referring to the poems in Miller’s edition by page and poem number. For instance, one of my favorites, “The Life we have is very great”, is Johnson # 1162, Franklin # 1178, and Miller “number” 707.3.
Johnson’s edition has one advantage over the others: it has a subject index at the back of the book, “a classification based principally on key words in the poems themselves” (p. 723). Johnson’s might also be considered the classic or standard work, since it stood alone among scholarly editions for four decades.
Johnson’s edition presents 1,775 poems; Franklin’s edition presents 1,789 poems, since he and Johnson disagreed about whether a handful of writings are a single poem or different poems; and, Miller’s edition presents 1,786 poems, I think, because in the Introduction she mentions three in Franklin’s edition that she does not include for various reasons.
By the way, if you are reading a book of poems by Emily Dickinson that is not edited by, nor can be traced ultimately to the work of, Thomas H. Johnson, R. W. Franklin, and/or Cristanne Miller, you are not actually reading Emily Dickinson’s poems, but some other person’s heavy-handed editing of her poems. Such other persons include Mabel Loomis Todd, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Millicent Todd Bingham, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, and Alfred Leete Hampson. (That would be any book originally published before the 1950s.)
As I mentioned above, I have read straight through two of these editions. Here follow three lists of my 180 favorite Emily Dickinson poems (thus, about 1 in 10 of her poems) as presented in each edition.
1960/1976 Johnson (poem number)
67 108 125 165 173 174 178 193 208 241 254 258 280 288 294 303 318 335 341 342 345 347 359 365 371 377 380 384 386 387 389 404 405 419 429 432 435 439 441 445 449 453 465 470 478 501 505 507 510 511 516 521 533 536 540 556 561 563 564 568 569 571 573 585 596 599 605 608 613 622 623 632 642 650 656 657 661 662 668 680 686 692 697 698 701 724 725 739 749 757 760 769 771 772 780 781 789 790 791 792 793 795 809 812 813 824b 826 828 833 844 861 863 917 919 946 951 952 959 964 970 974 986 988 1013 1021 1045 1052 1053 1073 1078 1116 1126 1134 1142 1162 1163 1168 1176 1205 1207 1212 1242 1244 1251 1263 1275 1333 1339 1346 1351 1354 1355 1368 1380 1381 1383 1386 1395 1404 1420 1422 1438 1444 1448 1455 1462 1465 1472 1473 1523 1536 1540 1568 1574 1654 1704 1732 1755 1763 1765
1999/2005 Franklin (poem number)
109 112 156 171 172 175 181 187 200 204 215 260 273 278 298 314 320 339 340 344 345 348 351 355 356 372 373 374 383 387 390 401 409 428 445 448 452 465 466 483 497 501 513 515 518 519 525 528 531 533 534 535 538 541 547 550 563 569 571 573 588 591 598 605 620 626 632 639 642 649 654 657 660 667 671 674 677 679 688 689 709 715 721 724 726 727 729 731 737 740 741 747 748 749 753 760 763 768 789 796 797 800 812 825 836 847 861 870 871 882 884 901 905 906 911 913 935 948 951 962 980 982 1023 1032 1056 1057 1072 1081 1086 1090 1096 1108 1115 1138 1152 1178 1192 1197 1223 1243 1259 1266 1286 1300 1329 1341 1343 1351 1356 1359 1373 1381 1383 1384 1389 1392 1405 1413 1420 1422 1450 1457 1464 1480 1481 1484 1491 1495 1506 1523 1546 1560 1597 1605 1687 1745 1747 1773 1779 1788
2016 Miller (page.poem)
69.3 77.3 92.1 94.1 98.2 99.1 102.1 109.1 118.2 119.4 128.1 139.4 150.1 153.1 171.1 179.1 179.2 181.2 182.1 184.1 185.2 187.2 188.1 198.1 198.2 199.1 204.1 206.2 208.2 214.1 218.2 223.3 225.1 226.3 233.1 233.2 240.3 247.2 251.1 252.1 253.2 254.1 259.1 261.2 268.2 270.1 273.2 276.1 279.1 280.3 286.2 289.1 290.2 291.2 292.2 293.1 293.2 294.3 295.3 304.3 307.2 310.2 312.2 313.3 316.1 318.1 320.1 322.3 324.1 327.1 333.2 334.1 345.2 352.1 354.1 357.2 359.1 361.2 362.2 364.1 364.2 365.1 366.2 369.2 371.2 372.1 375.1 375.2 376.1 376.3 378.1 387.1 389.2 395.1 397.1 397.2 400.3 401.2 407.2 412.1 418.1 419.1 420.1 426.2 427.2 427.4 428.1 429.3 430.2 437.3 442.2 443.1 446.1 452.2 452.4 465.2 467.2 474.1 474.2 481.2 484.2 485.3 487.1 488.3 489.3 494.3 497.3 500.1 507.1 518.2 519.2 522.1 522.3 523.1 531.3 532.1 533.3 540.1 544.3 555.3 557.3 562.1 564.3 569.1 580.1 583.4 584.1 586.2 587.2 591.3 595.1 597.2 599.1 599.3 607.1 609.2 610.1 611.4 615.3 616.2 618.3 621.1 624.3 630.3 633.5 642.1 662.3 679.3 686.2 688.1 690.3 702.3 707.3 708.1 711.1 715.3 719.4 720.3 728.1 736.2
ELC 11/29/2017
I have read the Johnson and Miller editions straight through, Johnson in 2002 and Miller in 2016.
The chief difference between Franklin’s edition and Johnson’s is the order of the poems: Franklin concluded that Johnson had dated many of the poems wrongly. Since each edition presents the poems in roughly chronological order, according to the editor’s best judgement, the order of poems in Franklin’s book differs markedly from that of Johnson’s. Also, Franklin reproduces Emily’s peculiar spelling, which Johnson regularized; and, where Emily left a poem in an unpolished state, Franklin occasionally presents a slightly different text than Johnson did — deciding to use one word rather than another, for instance. And, if Emily left two or more fairly distinct versions of the same poem, Franklin may have presented a different one than Johnson did. (For example, Johnson # 446 vs. Franklin # 346.)
Miller’s edition differs even more dramatically in the order of the poems: Miller generally accepts Franklin’s dating of the poems, but she presents them in five sections based on how Emily “preserved them”. The first section presents the poems that Emily herself had assembled into little booklets called fascicles; the second section presents poems that Emily herself had saved on “unbound sheets” joined together with a brass fastener (though we don’t know whether Emily herself did the fastening); the third section presents “loose poems” that Emily had kept in her possession; the fourth section presents “poems transcribed by others” for which no manuscript in Emily’s hand has been found; finally, the fifth and last section presents "poems not retained" by the poet herself but given to others. The first three sections are by far the longest, and a majority of the poems appear in the first two sections.
One wouldn’t go wrong using any of these three complete editions — Johnson, Franklin, or Miller. I think Miller’s is best, though, in three respects. First, simply because most of the poems are presented by Miller in fairly small groups (sheets, leaves) whereas the only division of poems in Johnson’s and Franklin’s books are by year, which makes for a run-on effect after reading for a while. Second, Miller also presents variant readings — alternative lines and words written by the poet herself on the manuscript pages. (Thus, we get the most significant aspects of a “variorum” edition in a reader��s edition.) Third, Miller footnotes to whom (if anyone) the poet shared each poem, and she provides some helpful annotation about possible sources, references, and allusions, in endnotes.
Miller’s edition is a large and heavy book, though, which is its main drawback; also, as I write (November 2017), Johnson’s and Franklin’s editions are available as paperbacks, but Miller’s is not.
Franklin provides no cross-reference to the Johnson edition — an inexcusable omission, I think. Miller’s index of first lines provides the Johnson and Franklin numbers for cross-referencing; alas, though, she provides no numbering system for the poems in her own edition, a deliberate choice that I think was imprudent. I myself have resorted to referring to the poems in Miller’s edition by page and poem number. For instance, one of my favorites, “The Life we have is very great”, is Johnson # 1162, Franklin # 1178, and Miller “number” 707.3.
Johnson’s edition has one advantage over the others: it has a subject index at the back of the book, “a classification based principally on key words in the poems themselves” (p. 723). Johnson’s might also be considered the classic or standard work, since it stood alone among scholarly editions for four decades.
Johnson’s edition presents 1,775 poems; Franklin’s edition presents 1,789 poems, since he and Johnson disagreed about whether a handful of writings are a single poem or different poems; and, Miller’s edition presents 1,786 poems, I think, because in the Introduction she mentions three in Franklin’s edition that she does not include for various reasons.
By the way, if you are reading a book of poems by Emily Dickinson that is not edited by, nor can be traced ultimately to the work of, Thomas H. Johnson, R. W. Franklin, and/or Cristanne Miller, you are not actually reading Emily Dickinson’s poems, but some other person’s heavy-handed editing of her poems. Such other persons include Mabel Loomis Todd, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Millicent Todd Bingham, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, and Alfred Leete Hampson. (That would be any book originally published before the 1950s.)
As I mentioned above, I have read straight through two of these editions. Here follow three lists of my 180 favorite Emily Dickinson poems (thus, about 1 in 10 of her poems) as presented in each edition.
1960/1976 Johnson (poem number)
67 108 125 165 173 174 178 193 208 241 254 258 280 288 294 303 318 335 341 342 345 347 359 365 371 377 380 384 386 387 389 404 405 419 429 432 435 439 441 445 449 453 465 470 478 501 505 507 510 511 516 521 533 536 540 556 561 563 564 568 569 571 573 585 596 599 605 608 613 622 623 632 642 650 656 657 661 662 668 680 686 692 697 698 701 724 725 739 749 757 760 769 771 772 780 781 789 790 791 792 793 795 809 812 813 824b 826 828 833 844 861 863 917 919 946 951 952 959 964 970 974 986 988 1013 1021 1045 1052 1053 1073 1078 1116 1126 1134 1142 1162 1163 1168 1176 1205 1207 1212 1242 1244 1251 1263 1275 1333 1339 1346 1351 1354 1355 1368 1380 1381 1383 1386 1395 1404 1420 1422 1438 1444 1448 1455 1462 1465 1472 1473 1523 1536 1540 1568 1574 1654 1704 1732 1755 1763 1765
1999/2005 Franklin (poem number)
109 112 156 171 172 175 181 187 200 204 215 260 273 278 298 314 320 339 340 344 345 348 351 355 356 372 373 374 383 387 390 401 409 428 445 448 452 465 466 483 497 501 513 515 518 519 525 528 531 533 534 535 538 541 547 550 563 569 571 573 588 591 598 605 620 626 632 639 642 649 654 657 660 667 671 674 677 679 688 689 709 715 721 724 726 727 729 731 737 740 741 747 748 749 753 760 763 768 789 796 797 800 812 825 836 847 861 870 871 882 884 901 905 906 911 913 935 948 951 962 980 982 1023 1032 1056 1057 1072 1081 1086 1090 1096 1108 1115 1138 1152 1178 1192 1197 1223 1243 1259 1266 1286 1300 1329 1341 1343 1351 1356 1359 1373 1381 1383 1384 1389 1392 1405 1413 1420 1422 1450 1457 1464 1480 1481 1484 1491 1495 1506 1523 1546 1560 1597 1605 1687 1745 1747 1773 1779 1788
2016 Miller (page.poem)
69.3 77.3 92.1 94.1 98.2 99.1 102.1 109.1 118.2 119.4 128.1 139.4 150.1 153.1 171.1 179.1 179.2 181.2 182.1 184.1 185.2 187.2 188.1 198.1 198.2 199.1 204.1 206.2 208.2 214.1 218.2 223.3 225.1 226.3 233.1 233.2 240.3 247.2 251.1 252.1 253.2 254.1 259.1 261.2 268.2 270.1 273.2 276.1 279.1 280.3 286.2 289.1 290.2 291.2 292.2 293.1 293.2 294.3 295.3 304.3 307.2 310.2 312.2 313.3 316.1 318.1 320.1 322.3 324.1 327.1 333.2 334.1 345.2 352.1 354.1 357.2 359.1 361.2 362.2 364.1 364.2 365.1 366.2 369.2 371.2 372.1 375.1 375.2 376.1 376.3 378.1 387.1 389.2 395.1 397.1 397.2 400.3 401.2 407.2 412.1 418.1 419.1 420.1 426.2 427.2 427.4 428.1 429.3 430.2 437.3 442.2 443.1 446.1 452.2 452.4 465.2 467.2 474.1 474.2 481.2 484.2 485.3 487.1 488.3 489.3 494.3 497.3 500.1 507.1 518.2 519.2 522.1 522.3 523.1 531.3 532.1 533.3 540.1 544.3 555.3 557.3 562.1 564.3 569.1 580.1 583.4 584.1 586.2 587.2 591.3 595.1 597.2 599.1 599.3 607.1 609.2 610.1 611.4 615.3 616.2 618.3 621.1 624.3 630.3 633.5 642.1 662.3 679.3 686.2 688.1 690.3 702.3 707.3 708.1 711.1 715.3 719.4 720.3 728.1 736.2
ELC 11/29/2017
December 3, 2023
dec. 2023 read; four stars! ✧ i’ve been slowly but surely working my way through the poems in this book (for almost a year) and i’ve realized that i absolutely LOVE the way that this was organized! i love reading emily dickinson’s poems anytime, but being able to have the full collection and watch her evolution as a poet by reading poems here and there was so much more enjoyable! emily dickinson is one of the most well known poets in history, so there’s not much more i can say about her, and i love most of her poems, but i’ll leave you with one of my favorites:
Her breast is fit for pearls,
But I was not a “Diver.”
Her brow is fit for thrones-
But I had not a crest.
Her heart is fit for rest-
I- a sparrow- build there
Sweet of twigs and twins
My perennial nest.
Her breast is fit for pearls,
But I was not a “Diver.”
Her brow is fit for thrones-
But I had not a crest.
Her heart is fit for rest-
I- a sparrow- build there
Sweet of twigs and twins
My perennial nest.
January 22, 2021
This was my second time reading this edition of the poems all the way through. This time I could see trends in the poems more clearly, as well as stark differences in quality and mood across Dickinson’s lifetime. Different poems jumped out at me than before, and I’m sure there are still others hidden for me to discover in the future.
March 8, 2023
After two semesters with this one, I think it is the best way to read Dickinson
November 26, 2023
It was alright. But not really my vibe. Looking forward to reading other, shorter poetry collections though.
July 16, 2020
By homely gifts and hindered words
The human heart is known
Of nothing—
“Nothing” is the force
That renovates the World.
The human heart is known
Of nothing—
“Nothing” is the force
That renovates the World.
March 24, 2022
It made me cry, multiple times. I loved it!
March 3, 2018
Years ago, right here in Goodreads, I asked why there wasn't an affordable, easy-to-read version of the poems Dickinson kept in the fascicles. These were obviously poems she favored, and they were put together in sets/order that had some kind of meaning to her.
Ask and you shall receive. This edition surpassed my wishes. It has an excellent introduction, valuable notes and it's easy to read.
Dickinson is energetic and groundbreaking, eccentric and innovative. Yet her reoccurring themes of death and poetry are not of primary interest to me (I'm not interested in poetry about poetry), but one can’t deny the power and the energy of her writing. She’s not easy though. And sometimes her the lack of clarity and jumbled syntax don't necessarily translate to profundity or depth of emotion.
Here are my comments on the fascicles as I read them:
Fascicle 1 ("The Gentian weaves her fringes")** -- This earlier work of Dickinson is metrically more regular and thematically less death obsessed than her later poetry. This is a nice collection, but nothing outstanding. (01/11)
Fascicle 14 (The nearest Dream recedes – unrealized) ** – This fascicle is not as strong overall as the others. The title poem and Your Riches taught me Poverty are the strongest in the set. Some poems such as Removed from Accident of Loss I couldn’t unravel. (12/13)
Fascicle 16 ("Before I Got My Eye Put Out") *** -- These poems display more of Dickinson's darker side (and some of her humor). (8/10)
Fascicle 21 ("I -- Years Had Been -- from Home") *** -- This fascicle displays Dickinson's strengths and reoccurring themes, as well as her weaknesses. The language in places is almost savagely distorted, with syntax and punctuation completely blown up. This gives her poetry a visceral, edgy quality, but also sometimes creates a barrier between the reader and the poem. I spent a lot of time just trying to reconstruct the syntax (what is the subject? the verb? who's "he", what's "it"?). (05/11)
Fascicle 25 ("A Precious -- Mouldering Pleasure") **** — This fascicle is a typical but very good collection of Dickinson’s poetry. The stand out poems are the first poem about the pleasure of reading and owning books. Also, “Of Course — I prayed” is one of the best of this fascicle and one of my favorite Dickinson poems in general. It is a stark telling of the indifference of god and the wish to never have been born. The fascicle also covers Dickinson’s usual themes of nature, loneliness, death and eternity. (11/11)
Fascicle 26 (They called me to the Window, for) *** – This fascicle is not as strong a collection as some. It has the famous “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died”, and I also enjoyed “I am alive – I guess.” The rest are good, but unremarkable for Dickinson. (07/16)
Ask and you shall receive. This edition surpassed my wishes. It has an excellent introduction, valuable notes and it's easy to read.
Dickinson is energetic and groundbreaking, eccentric and innovative. Yet her reoccurring themes of death and poetry are not of primary interest to me (I'm not interested in poetry about poetry), but one can’t deny the power and the energy of her writing. She’s not easy though. And sometimes her the lack of clarity and jumbled syntax don't necessarily translate to profundity or depth of emotion.
Here are my comments on the fascicles as I read them:
Fascicle 1 ("The Gentian weaves her fringes")** -- This earlier work of Dickinson is metrically more regular and thematically less death obsessed than her later poetry. This is a nice collection, but nothing outstanding. (01/11)
Fascicle 14 (The nearest Dream recedes – unrealized) ** – This fascicle is not as strong overall as the others. The title poem and Your Riches taught me Poverty are the strongest in the set. Some poems such as Removed from Accident of Loss I couldn’t unravel. (12/13)
Fascicle 16 ("Before I Got My Eye Put Out") *** -- These poems display more of Dickinson's darker side (and some of her humor). (8/10)
Fascicle 21 ("I -- Years Had Been -- from Home") *** -- This fascicle displays Dickinson's strengths and reoccurring themes, as well as her weaknesses. The language in places is almost savagely distorted, with syntax and punctuation completely blown up. This gives her poetry a visceral, edgy quality, but also sometimes creates a barrier between the reader and the poem. I spent a lot of time just trying to reconstruct the syntax (what is the subject? the verb? who's "he", what's "it"?). (05/11)
Fascicle 25 ("A Precious -- Mouldering Pleasure") **** — This fascicle is a typical but very good collection of Dickinson’s poetry. The stand out poems are the first poem about the pleasure of reading and owning books. Also, “Of Course — I prayed” is one of the best of this fascicle and one of my favorite Dickinson poems in general. It is a stark telling of the indifference of god and the wish to never have been born. The fascicle also covers Dickinson’s usual themes of nature, loneliness, death and eternity. (11/11)
Fascicle 26 (They called me to the Window, for) *** – This fascicle is not as strong a collection as some. It has the famous “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died”, and I also enjoyed “I am alive – I guess.” The rest are good, but unremarkable for Dickinson. (07/16)
August 13, 2020
This review is relevant to the editing of Dickinson's poems, not the poems themselves. There are basically two other editions of Dickinson's "complete poems"-the ones edited by Franklin and the other by Johnson. Both are good, but my recommendation is Miller if you want to read Dickinson.
Miller presents Dickinson with significant context that makes understanding the poems easier. The poems are presented in their respective fascicle, as an "unbound sheet," "transcribed by others," or "unretained." In addition, Miller includes marginalia on alternative texts, whether the poem was included in a letter, and other relevant context. In addition, she gives a lot of information on other copies, contexts, etc in the notes section. Miller's editing itself retains the line breaks of the written poems which I found particularly enlightening (Johnson and Franklin give line breaks by the meter or rhyme). Miller's editing and grouping, particularly the fascicle groupings, make for a presentation that helps place the poems in context. She even includes several images of the manuscripts of poems that help show even more context (and they also illustrate Dickinson's changing handwriting). She also has a lengthy and fascinating introduction that focuses on her own editing principles and general editing issues with Dickinson's poems. This all makes for an excellent presentation of the poems that is better than the usual chronological ordering. I've read through both Johnson and Franklin's versions quite a few times, but Miller's editing opened up whole new connections for me in Dickinson's work.
Reading the actual manuscripts is superior, but I think Miller might be the next best thing. My recommendation to anyone who really wants to sit down with Dickinson is to buy this and Marta Werner's "Gorgeous Nothings" (just to see some of the more interesting manuscripts). Miller doesn't include every poem, but every major one is here and presented with more context than in other collections.
Miller presents Dickinson with significant context that makes understanding the poems easier. The poems are presented in their respective fascicle, as an "unbound sheet," "transcribed by others," or "unretained." In addition, Miller includes marginalia on alternative texts, whether the poem was included in a letter, and other relevant context. In addition, she gives a lot of information on other copies, contexts, etc in the notes section. Miller's editing itself retains the line breaks of the written poems which I found particularly enlightening (Johnson and Franklin give line breaks by the meter or rhyme). Miller's editing and grouping, particularly the fascicle groupings, make for a presentation that helps place the poems in context. She even includes several images of the manuscripts of poems that help show even more context (and they also illustrate Dickinson's changing handwriting). She also has a lengthy and fascinating introduction that focuses on her own editing principles and general editing issues with Dickinson's poems. This all makes for an excellent presentation of the poems that is better than the usual chronological ordering. I've read through both Johnson and Franklin's versions quite a few times, but Miller's editing opened up whole new connections for me in Dickinson's work.
Reading the actual manuscripts is superior, but I think Miller might be the next best thing. My recommendation to anyone who really wants to sit down with Dickinson is to buy this and Marta Werner's "Gorgeous Nothings" (just to see some of the more interesting manuscripts). Miller doesn't include every poem, but every major one is here and presented with more context than in other collections.
November 15, 2018
I do not claim to have read every poem in the book, but I studied 20 of them through BOLLI (Brandeis Osher Life Long Learning Institute). Not only does the book contain every comment annotated in the fascicles and in the loose poems, but you can locate any poem by the first line. Being able to read them in the order that Dickinson copied them for permanent retention allows the reader to ponder why she recorded them in this order, in this fascicle.
I will go back to this book and plan to enjoy dipping into it over the next few years. I strongly recommend it to fans of Emily Dickinson.
I will go back to this book and plan to enjoy dipping into it over the next few years. I strongly recommend it to fans of Emily Dickinson.
December 26, 2020
I bought this for myself as a Christmas present and what a treat! The introduction walks through the editor's thought process and then Dickinson's works are clearly laid out in an easy to read manner. I love this book!
March 6, 2021
The book is clearly a labor of love. There are photographs of the original writing and careful explanations of her writing processes.
I give it three stars for the scholarship but ED's poems are awful (I'm sorry but they are) and I found the book dull going.
I give it three stars for the scholarship but ED's poems are awful (I'm sorry but they are) and I found the book dull going.
November 12, 2021
Uhm. Much like Whitman, I get why Dickinson is loved…but I also definitely get why she’s hated. I lean more towards the latter, but give credit based on her place in canonical views of the poetry. Otherwise, I’d be more than happy to never have to be exposed to this again.
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February 2, 2018811.4 D553e 2016
January 5, 2021
The best and most complete book ever
September 27, 2020
A must-have for hardcore fans of Emily Dickinson
June 15, 2021
Thought-to-paper poetry definitely isn’t for me : /
November 5, 2022
Her literary skills have never ceased to amaze me
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews