Pre-Flight for
Emily Dickinson

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Hello,

Dickinson is a great poet. One of the things I like about her in addition to what she's saying in her poems is that her poems are short. A long poem can be intimidating when you're first being exposed to poetry. Read these poems slowly—don't rush. The great thing about short poems is that you can read them half a dozen times easily. If a poem just doesn't make sense keep reading until you find one that does. Focus on the ones you like.

Dickinson is difficult, even for scholars, and there is often controversy about what a particular poem means, so don't feel bad if you don't understand what you read. You may even read it a few times and still not understand it—happens to me too, though I'm not a scholar, I'm just a guy who owns a time machine. Remember, great literature is something you can read for the rest of your life. At different ages you will get different things out of it.

And if for some reason you just don't like Emily's poems (I'll forgive you—) find a poet you do like. The best place to start with a new genre is with something you like, something you enjoy.

One last note. When you quote poetry within a paragraph or sentence you use slashes (/) like this: "I'm a poet / And don't know it." When you quote it on it's own you do it like this:

I'm a poet
And don't know it.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Mr. Draeger

©2005-2012 Glen Draeger (all rights reserved)
Millstone Education: World Literature / http://www.millstoneeducation.com/worldLit