Thursday, January 23, 2020

Poem for a Thursday: Dickinson


#80

Our lives are Swiss,--
So still, so cool,
 Till, some odd afternoon,
The Alps neglect their curtains,
 And we look further on. 
Italy stands the other side,
 While, like a guard between,
The solemn Alps
The siren Alps,
 Forever intervene!

-Emily Dickinson

In picking an Emily Dickinson, I wanted to pick one that wasn't one of the better known ones, but was still particularly a favorite of mine. So here it is!

Jennifer has a stirring Robert Service poem, and not the one you know. 

4 comments:

  1. boy, confusing... i know ED never went to Europe, so what is she talking about? metaphoric, i guess, but alluding to what is a mystery to me...

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    1. I like to think of it as about inspiration: something we only get occasional glimpses of, but is sunnier and with better food... ;-)

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    2. "siren Alps": personification? her white-haired mom? food=cheese...

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    3. Less cheesy down south? Italy's always sung out to me.

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