I don’t really understand why people post poems online without providing their attribution. Perhaps poems are perceived as something similar to proverbs, small floating bits of wisdom without a specific, individual author.
Unrelated to that, it’s interesting to note that this particular rendition is not a very “loyal” representation of the original manuscript. Emily Dickinson used dashes extremely frequently in her poetry, and this edition appears to remove them completely, replacing them with more conventional punctuation. You can see the original manuscript at https://dickinsonsbirds.org/project/poems/210 - IMO this editorial decision isn’t justifiable.
No excuse for the lack of attribution (especially for Emily Dickinson, it’s just ironic).
As a non-native speaker without any knowledge of English poetry, I can appreciate the added clarity of using more traditional punctuation which gives me an immediate feel for the intended pace instead of making me pause to “decode” the poem. I’m sure some meaning and context is lost, but I have to admit that for an idiot like me it is a much smoother (and therefore casually enjoyable) read.
I thought I put it in the description my bad
I’ve edited the title to have her name in it
The edited punctuation is indeed easier to read, exactly why it was introduced. But, regarding the “indended pace”: Dickinson used her unorthodox punctuation with intent, and if the pace feels jarring, and/or forces you to pause and reconsider - that’s likely what she really intended.
I thought I had put her name in the description, I’ve edited the title to put her name in it
This was the image on the Wikipedia page of the poem so that’s the one I shared
Well I do see many people posting poems just so, without the authors, not just by mistake. So this one ticked me off, especially because I really wanted to know who the author is :D
The second comment wasn’t meant as criticism directed at you, but at the editor. This version with normalised punctuation is indeed very widespread online.
My favorite tidbit about Emily Dickinson is that you can sing her poems to the tune of Gillians Island. Interestingly, this is not my wife’s favorite tidbit about Emily Dickinson.
Goddamnit. It’s not mine either.
I love dickensons poetry, the stant rhymes and strange rhythms. Shes such an inspiration, a recluse who changed the trajectory of modern poetry.
One of my personal favorites: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56824/tell-all-the-truth-but-tell-it-slant-1263
Thanks for sharing :) its always nice to see some poetry in meme communities
I hope this is not an exemplar of her poetry… I don’t find it to be very good in really any of the ways that poetry CAN be good in my experience.
Unless the only category is “famous” in which case she is definitely winning.
Personally I’m a fan of this poem
Different strokes for different folks really
But why though? The meter isn’t great and neither are the rhymes. Hope does not liyerally have feathers and there is no deeper allegory. Also there is nothing about crumbs or idioms related to crumbs that give good closure. Not to mention that all the weather references are vapid and empty
She is famous, and yet this poem is a trash pile. Can I do better? You know what probably yes.
Of course hope is not literally a thing with feathers, it’s a metaphor comparing hope to song birds.
And the crumbs are a metaphor for feeding the hope. The choice of crumbs here is because people feed birds crumbs.
The weather comparisons are easily seen as comparisons because of the commonality of using weather as a metaphor for emotions and also how people describe events.
As a mentioned before, different strokes for different folks. You may not like it and that’s fine, and I like it which is also fine. Not everything can appeal to everyone.
If you feel you could do better feel free to write poetry and share it with the world. I’m sure you’ll find an audience for your work just as her work found an audience.
![Hope by Emily Dickinson [Rule]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Hope_is_the_thing_with_feathers%2C_1891.jpg){kind=link}