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08-04-2021, 12:40 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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More on Emily Dickinson's Conceptual Rhymes
In an earlier post, I noted Emily Dickinson’s use of conceptual rhyme. Here are a few more notes:
I have a Bird in spring
Which for myself doth sing—
The spring decoys.
And as the summer nears—
And as the Rose appears,
Robin is gone.
Yet do I not repine
Knowing that Bird of mine
Though flown—
Learneth beyond the sea
Melody new for me
And will return.
Fast is a safer hand
Held in a truer Land
Are mine—
And though they now depart,
Tell I my doubting heart
They're thine.
In a serener Bright,
In a more golden light
I see
Each little doubt and fear,
Each little discord here
Removed.
Then will I not repine,
Knowing that Bird of mine
Though flown
Shall in a distant tree
Bright melody for me
Return.
Some possible reading of the conceptual rhymes: decoys make birds (gone) only appear to be present, birds/true robins weren’t present; bird flown away/bird returned; bird is mine privately imagined/now that bird is thine—inspired to work out these and the rest?! So far, is her bird in spring an illusion, never appears? Each conceptually related monometer pair is in sharp contrast with the alternating trimeter and perfectly rhymed couplets.
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Ralph
Last edited by RCL; 10-03-2021 at 06:15 PM.
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08-11-2021, 11:12 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2021
Location: Florida
Posts: 372
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Thanks, RCL
Dear Ralph,
This is lofty, methinks. I haven't known what to say. I'd like to say she makes it look simple, but I don't think so.
I'm shrinking,
~mignon
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08-12-2021, 10:58 AM
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Yes, it only appears simple, and is striking to me that she could do that in one of her earliest known poems.
With age, we're all shrinking. I wonder why. It's unsettling!
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Ralph
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08-12-2021, 11:56 AM
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RCL latest post on ED
Hello, Ralph,
Thanks for the giggles. Re: we're all shrinking. I used to be taller than my daughter -- no more -- she loves it, calls me "cute." I never wanted to be cute, but maybe it's better than any alternative..
I'd like to understand this post better than I do. I'm, by far, not a scholar, and this post is among the most, if not the most humbling I've read.
I'll be checking this thread. Again, thank you for the teacher's spirit which reminds me of how much my father enjoyed teaching. I was privileged to see him, in his late eighties, reunited with the one who took his place, and a great honor to have met a few of his students, too, one of whom went on to teach at the same university: San Marcos. I 'inherited' their friendship and have them to miss, too.
It's a beautiful thing, Ralph!
~mignon
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09-03-2021, 11:44 AM
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Thanks mignon. Since I last looked here, I had to settle for less. More on Ms D. soon.
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Ralph
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09-03-2021, 11:13 PM
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Ralph!
I'm chuckling, but I don't know why--what's this about "I had to settle for less."
In any case, I'm looking forward for more on Ms D.
~m
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