Birthday-Poetry Wednesday
My sister was born on December 10th as was Emily Dickenson; I visited her home in Amherst, (see photos) Massachusetts this past summer.
In honor of birthdays, a brilliant poem from Billy Collins.
Let’s just call this BIRTHDAY-POETRY WEDNESDAY.
Happy Birthday, Emily Dickinson.
Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes
by BILLY COLLINS
First, her tippet made of tulle,
easily lifted off her shoulders and laid
on the back of a wooden chair.
And her bonnet,
the bow undone with a light forward pull.
Then the long white dress, a more
complicated matter with mother-of-pearl
buttons down the back,
so tiny and numerous that it takes forever
before my hands can part the fabric,
like a swimmer’s dividing water,
and slip inside.
You will want to know
that she was standing
by an open window in an upstairs bedroom,
motionless, a little wide-eyed,
looking out at the orchard below,
the white dress puddled at her feet
on the wide-board, hardwood floor.
The complexity of women’s undergarments
in nineteenth-century America
is not to be waved off,
and I proceeded like a polar explorer
through clips, clasps, and moorings,
catches, straps, and whalebone stays,
sailing toward the iceberg of her nakedness.
Later, I wrote in a notebook
it was like riding a swan into the night,
but, of course, I cannot tell you everything –
the way she closed her eyes to the orchard,
how her hair tumbled free of its pins,
how there were sudden dashes
whenever we spoke.
What I can tell you is
it was terribly quiet in Amherst
that Sabbath afternoon,
nothing but a carriage passing the house,
a fly buzzing in a windowpane.
So I could plainly hear her inhale
when I undid the very top
hook-and-eye fastener of her corset
and I could hear her sigh when finally it was unloosed,
the way some readers sigh when they realize
that Hope has feathers,
that reason is a plank,
that life is a loaded gun
that looks right at you with a yellow eye.
For the New Yorkers, Billy Collins is a professor at Lehman College. He’s also reading at the New york Botanical Gardens this Saturday, don’t think I can make it though.
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12/13/2014: 2:00 p.m.
Poetry Reading with Billy Collins
Part of the Holiday Train Show
In Ross Hall
Stroll through the Leon Levy Visitor Center and Perennial Garden Way to read train-inspired poems by former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. On Saturday, December 13, meet the poet during a special reading of his work, including beloved winter selections to celebrate the season.
Seating is limited; reserve your tickets in advance to guarantee seating.
Co-presented with the Poetry Society of America
Included with All-Garden Pass admission | Get Your Tickets | Share
This is so interesting.
The impression I got from reading “Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes” was that the narrator’s undressing symbolized the finding of the real Emily Dickinson, but the clothing was not a metaphor for Dickinson’s exposure through poetry. Instead, the clothing was a metaphor for the poetry itself, each layer representing a deeper level of meaning behind her poetry, eventually leading to the naked feelings of Dickinson herself.
I would think the “tippet made of tulle,” in the first line and “her bonnet” in line four symbolize the line, “My Tippet – only Tulle –” in her poem, “Because I could not stop for Death”.
Dickinson was an odd bird. After visiting her home and touring and hearing the lecture it was made clear that she was a recluse, she never wanted her work published, I believe she had a sister, Lavinia, who published her work after her death. I saw Emily’s dresses and the white “house dress” she always wore, the view from the windows, the garden and probable “orchard”. Her work was often a mystery and had frequently had multiple meanings.
synchronization….i discovered billy collins on the subway…..well he wasn’t there but his poetry was as there was a placcard in each subway car called poetry in motion with different contemporary poems posted each month. i have been known to give up a perfectly good and coveted subway seat to read the poetry and billy collins is one of my favorite subway poets. i think the poem i fell in love with was about grand central station but i may be mistaken. i do find it a bit fantastic sue that you and i discovered the same poet. love,’lainie
Indeed-and I remember the Poetry in Motion “movement”. Yes synchronicity x 2 + gribenes + schmaltz = fond memories
I had never heard of Billy Collins before, but after reading this stupendous poem I am willing to explore his other works. Thanks for introducing me to his poetry, Sue.
Dani, Collins is perhaps my favorite poet; he served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003, and as the New York State Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006.
http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/billy-collins