false 112204 0316184136 9780316184137 3567 190 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175373989m/112204.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112204.The_Complete_Poems_of_Emily_Dickinson 7440 Emily Dickinson 6479 489 3 2 false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Mon Oct 29 11:10:58 -0700 2007 Sun Mar 09 06:29:05 -0700 2008
Emily Dickinson had long been on my poetry "don't like/don't care" list. The poems of hers we read in high school seemed (be merciful, angry mob of ED devotees) trite. The rhymey-rhyme-ness of them drove me crazy. I didn't care about bees and flowers and birds and being "nobody." I didn't care about Emily Dickinson and I didn't understand why anyone else did either, but here I was, stuck in this class. It was too late to switch to something else and I had to have those credits to graduate, so I stuck it out.

And here's what I learned from reading Emily Dickinson for 4 straight months (besides "always read the course description"): that there's something to learn from every poet, even the ones you don't much like. I'm still not a big ED fan (her rhymes still drive me crazy half the time), but I did read several poems that I loved in that class. More importantly, I learned to read a poet on her own terms and a little bit of why others love her so much. I think I approach all art differently after that experience, and that's not something I can say for everything I've read.]]>