Friday, November 03, 2006

Today I've decided to write about happier things. Life is full of so many sad things--it gets discouraging if you dwell on them.

When I was in high school, I grew to love the poetry of Emily Dickinson. She was a genius--so gifted--and yet she never became famous. No one fussed over her or published very many of her poems. And yet she kept on writing them in the face of overwhelming rejection and personal grief.

She never gave up.

I love her tenacity, and I want to be just like her. When I set a goal, I never want to give up--no matter what happens--or who tries to stop me.

Emily Dickinson did not live to see people praise her work, but today--150 years later--millions of people celebrate her talent. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson . . . considered to be the greatest of American nineteenth century poets.

These are two of my favorite Emily Dickinson poems (but it's so hard to pick):

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!
They'd advertise -- you know!
How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one's name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

And . . .

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.


1 Comments:

Dwayna Litz said...

Beautiful.

I am going to post that on my blog today and refer people over to this site.

11:37 AM  

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