The Art and Beauty of Emily Dickinson's Poetry

[@wildsonnets]

Wonderful - thank you for this. I have always said that Whitman is the most American of poets and Dickinson is the most poetic of Americans.

[@closereadingpoetry]

love that distinction!

[@ThomasSimmons-u5x]

Brilliant!

[@DyarContreras]

Whitman and Dickinson are the father and mother of American poetry, respectively.

[@Samuel-js6fq]

Watching this, reading her words and listening to your erudition, was a lovely hour and thirteen minutes on a snowy afternoon.

[@charliewest1221]

I love Blake, Dickens and Dickinson. I see a link in their work. Blake saw into the deepest of things, Dickens felt it and Dickinson KNEW it.

[@kpuwal2010]

Thank you for this truly delightful video. I’ve never seen a more poetic soul speak about poetry - it's absolutely beautiful.

[@grhines4755]

This lecture gave me chills. Thanks so much for this lecture. I've been struggling with Emily Dickinson's poetry since reading her poems in your Patreon group. You're so right about Dickinson's ambiguity: "You'll never master the poems by comprehension." Dickinson speaks to the unconscious in me...Thank you for this wonderful lecture.

[@ArthurHudson-r7b]

Hi Adam, I just finished reading a small collection of Dickenson. Thank you so much for putting this video on KZbin. Your ability to communicate the beauty and genius of poetry is fantastic, and it has allowed me to appreciate her much more.

[@djlikesthemoose]

Dickinson has always been my favorite poet- ive always loved music and i remember falling in love with her rhythm after just one poem. Thank you so much!! I appreciate these videos more than you know. :)

[@sayitloveitscreamit]

This was delightful! I am not much of a poetry reader, but this viedo made me want to do a deep dive into it. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and knowledge so eloquently.

[@legertanguy4334]

I love this channel as a French student, it allows me to delve deeper into a whole range of authors established by other traditions (Geoffrey Chaucer, Milton, etc. ; I love the videos about the canons!), and even on better-known authors like Dickinson it gives wonderful introductions. Keep up the good work! :) (btw I love your video on country music and poetry !!)

[@TCFire-i4c]

Just found you, thank you for this! Astounding is the word! I can't say I read all her poetry, but my favorite will always be "We never know how high we are, until we are called to rise" I'm sure you know the rest! So interesting, how she viewed religion, and felt closest to God in nature 😊 my own feelings as well, and staying mostly to myself. Really enjoyed, and appreciated this enriching video. When you said "how does she do this!?" It is what I say too 😮 love her, and how she was true to herself, no matter what others thought and said 😊 and at such a young age!!! Thank you again ❤

[@christophercurdo4384]

Splendid talk, Adam. Love the biographic slant. The 'whispering to Horatio' ending was very moving. Thank you.

[@You-TubeUser2836]

Adam bro, your next level...

[@mechaalbert]

you are doing such a great job man, keep on the work. I like your videos and are great for leisure time

[@cecethompson914]

What an amazing lecture! I’ll be listening to this again.

[@larrymilliken288]

She is the one I turn to again and again. Forever - is composed of Nows - ‘Tis not a different time -Thank you for this video-she is doubtless my favorite poet and always refreshingly new!

[@bonnieblachly5303]

Such a wonderful talk. I’m going to read her tonight

[@jazzman2516]

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for this lecture. I’m a student of French and Spanish Literature, and I’ve noticed that Dickinson’s poetic method is remarkably similar to that of a contemporary poet born around a decade after her, across the pond. That poet was the mysterious Stéphane Mallarmé, who was one of the most influential early contributors to the form of free verse, along with Whitman, of course. To him, the poet ‘leaves the initiative to words’. One does not write poems with ideas therefore, but with words. This is the central practice behind symbolism, and I wonder to what extent you could label Dickinson as a proto-symbolist. I, for one, think ‘isms’ perhaps hinder us from simply enjoying poetry for what it is. But one thing’s for certain, both Dickinson and Mallarmé were onto something in how they approached writing poems. Their poems never cease to instil a child-like sense of curiosity and wonder, as you point out, in all who pay them the due diligence of close inspection.

[@Andrew87394]

This is revelatory teaching.I especially value your careful reading of the poems which really help to reveal their meaning.Much gratitude.

[@evanm3703]

I'm so glad you posted this just now. I'm working my way through a collection of Emily Dickinson's Poetry. Thanks!

[@the-comments-poet]

Paper plane - A tribute to Emlily Dickinson If I send a paper plane Or if I catch a butterfly And sail on drops of rain Tell me Angel in the sky Will I chance upon you If I shine a candle in the night Beckoning to your might Or if I put a lightning bolt in a jar- Ride fire dust to the evening star Tell me Angel in the sky If you’ve only one word to offer From your wings a single feather On brooding foothill Will you once more dip your quill If I send a paper plane

[@ThomasSimmons-u5x]

One of the many things I love about Emily is how, not unlike Beckett, she imagines a thinking Death.

[@sgiauque]

Awesome, just wonderful. Thank you.

[@malvinderkaur541]

Poets writers live in their own world of imagination and they give tantalizing glimpses of them meaning behind and best of writing always is simply worded so everybody understands without convulating the narrative

[@augustosarmentodeoliveira3023]

thank you. she's my new obsession

[@tomginn3091]

This is a really beautiful, inspiring talk

[@philenealvarado5008]

I just noticed you said " No philosopher would be satisfied with the poetic treatment of any ideas." I kindly beg to differ, for I am a philosopher and a poet, and I am satisfied to posit my ideas on such matters in the poetic form. But I am a contemporary poet, with a passion for Ancient poetry and the not so ancient, as in the turn of the Century.

[@greyfjr]

"Some keep the Sabbath in surplice; I just wear my wings, And instead of tolling the bell for church, Our little sexton sings. God preaches, - a noted clergyman,- And the sermon is never long; So instead of getting to heaven at last, I’m going all along!" Thank you, Adam Walker, for presenting the possibility of a profound, principled, yet unpretentious poetic partner. A 20 mile peregrination with Emily Dickinson? "I’m going all along!" There's more to our never long journey than just the destination. I, a poetry fledgling, interpret "Our little sexton" as little wren Emily Dickinson herself. Surrounded by divine death, she sheds the surplice, sings and soars while still tending to the ever-expanding church graveyard. Thanks again, I've watched twice, and counting.

[@ThomasSimmons-u5x]

I often read Dickenson and Bukowski in tandem just to keep me honest. But seriously, Folks - I adore her - The sherry in her eyes.

[@Indeleble4500]

What is sherry?

[@ThomasSimmons-u5x]

​@Indeleble4500 It's a fortified wine of amber color made in Adulsia, Spain of Moorish origin.

[@DiveToDeep]

Absolutely fascinating Thank you

[@anthonywritesfantasy]

"Enactments of a mobile consciousness" explains why the best loved playwright wrote poetry.

[@brutusalwaysminded]

Ah, goody. One of top favorites. Don’t think I fit in any of your categories (discovered her work once I left college) but go through Dickinson interludes from time to time. Thanks. P.S. prose logic doesn’t work with any poetry. 😁🙏🏼

[@Onkruid]

Thanks a lot for this Adam!

[@ShuhangLee-q3x]

I'm also reading her complete work right now.

[@postrock12]

Really good.

[@SanSuzanneTHartman]

You are so sweet. Thank you so much.✨

[@blane1814]

Beautiful

[@cassiopeiathew7406]

I don’t know if you’ve already done a video on it but I’m planning a trip to England in 2025 and I’m planning on reading The Faerie Queene while I’m there and I was wondering if you would ever be interested in doing a dedicated video on Edmund Spenser or this work (unless you already have)

[@earmuhammadalmahathi9094]

Make a video on contemporary poetry scene.I found nothing clear.Also tell how to get access to those poetry

[@jamesduggan7200]

Certainly all poetry is not autobiographical but that's not why we need to read a poem in the context of what comes before and after from the same poet. Because so much of Dickenson is finding the spiritual in the commonplace we won't see it before we find the keys. Otherwise understanding a poem is a just a sack of guesses, or a bit of music.

[@РоманПаляниця-к5э]

Very interesting, deep, intelligent and useful video for me, thank you very much! Greetings from Ukraine! An aerial alert is going on right now: the Russian army is attacking civilians in our city of Sumy with drones, but we are holding on, not giving up, because the truth is on our side. And I want to say that poetry makes the soul stronger.

[@beler1766]

💚

[@silverassassin1120]

hello from california 🫡

[@closereadingpoetry]

Hello!

[@KayMaria40]

Me

[@pascalbercker7487]

I like the content but you should think about a better microphone or better more intimate audio setting. You sound like speaking from a bathroom - with too much reverb - the sound is too hollow - like from an auditorium. For poetry especially it should more like from a livingroom. You should perhaps give it a listen and judge for yourself. The sound is simply too harsh - all the sadder in the context of reading Dickinson which requires a much softer and more intimate atmosphere.

[@closereadingpoetry]

I don't think it's all that bad 😅 but fair point. I had to film in my office on campus this time but have a better mic at home

[@EmporiumFoolProductions]

Fine, I'll just ask what we're all thinking: Sir, are you married? If you are, your special someone is very lucky person. If you're not...... hello from Southern California

[@ZanarkandIsntReal]

I'd be careful with that whole analytic writing is masculine line of thought lol. That's getting dangerously close to a math is racist kind of thinking. Women think and write in this kind of "analytic" way as well. There is nothing gendered about writing in a more open ended way or a more algorithmic way.

[@closereadingpoetry]

The concern you’ve raised about analytic writing being described as "masculine" is valid in that it’s worth being cautious with generalizations about gender. However, my argument is not at all comparable to the "math is racist" line of reasoning for several key reasons. I've not encountered someone who has made the "math is racist" claim, but I assume that the claim critiques systemic barriers to access and participation in mathematics for marginalized groups, not the inherent nature of mathematical reasoning itself. In contrast, the discussion about analytic writing being associated with masculinity critiques long-standing cultural and historical associations, not the actual capacity of women (or anyone) to think analytically. The other reason -- and perhaps this wasn't sufficiently clear in my presentation -- is that feminine and masculine are modes of reading not essential to the body. Carl Jung is good on this. As a reader anyone can orient in either way. Also, I hope viewers will know that my argument isn’t suggesting that men are inherently better at analytic writing or that women cannot engage with it. Rather, I’m pointing out that Western intellectual traditions have historically coded certain modes of thinking and writing-such as logic-driven, hierarchical structures-as "masculine," while other forms, like open-ended, intuitive, or narrative approaches, have often been devalued as "feminine." I’m not suggesting a rigid, essentialist framework here but rather offering a critique of how certain writing styles have been socially constructed and valued. And how those style inform our reading and our expectations (and frustrations) as readers!

[@ZanarkandIsntReal]

​@@closereadingpoetryJudging from your well measured response I don't think I actually have to say this but it is all too common that people mistake earnest criticism as a personal attack as conveying intention is difficult to do in text form. So I just want to make it explicit that I meant no offense by my comment and that I rather enjoyed the video regardless of this criticism. However, your point about femininity and masculinity being completely detached from sex as mere "modes of orientation not essential to the body" is well taken but ultimately flawed. While it may be true that men can have feminine traits and vis versa the term is still ultimately derived from stereotypical characteristics of the female sex. If you truly believe the term is completely detached from sex then how exactly would you define the word? It seems quite obvious that the word is inexorably tied to sex and to say that a man is writing in a feminine way is the same as saying a man is writing like a woman would. Although if your saying cultural elites arbitrarily designate "intuitive" thinking as feminine and "analytic" thinking as masculine and gatekeep works that don't conform while in reality there is no gendered way of thinking then I guess we agree and I perhaps jumped to that conclusion too quickly. I also want to point out that the "math is racist" assertion is not actually about systemic barriers to education as you suspect. It is in fact a literal assertion that different cultures have different ways of thinking. It is based on the Marxist belief of Polylogism. They don't believe that Logic is Universal or objective. They believe that each group of people form their own type of logic that supports their world view and the powerful groups assert their logic as objective to keep the weak groups oppressed. It's not about access to education it's about inherent differences in modes of thinking.

[@DyarContreras]

@@ZanarkandIsntReal what's also worth noting here is that Dickinson is suspected of having been a closeted lesbian (a tragic circumsatnce of that time) who was in love with another woman for a very long period in her life, perhaps most of her life (at least that's according to Wikipedia). I don't know if Adam addressed the evidence for Dickinson's sexuality in this video (I haven't watched the video yet), but I think that factor is worth considering in this conversation about masculine writing versus feminine writing. Personally, I have some female friends in the LGBT+ community who are VERY intelligent, and write in an analytical fashion.

[@sockfeet_johnson]

lame

[@beyondourselvespod]

Thank you so much for your work Adam. I thoroughly appreciated listening and participating in this lecture. Your work is so valuable to many!