besides the autumn poets sing
besides the autumn poets sing,
a few prosaic days,
a little this side of the snow
and that side of the haze -
a few incisive mornings -
a few ascetic eves -
gone - mr. bryant's "golden rod" -
and mr. thomson's "sheaves."
still, is the bustle in the brook -
sealed are the spicy valves -
mesmeric fingers softly touch
the eyes of many elves -
perhaps a squirrel may remain -
my sentiments to share -
grant me, o Lord, a sunny mind -
thy windy will to bear!
by emily dickinson (1830 - 1886)
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i sat with the zoom church service by myself this morning as chanda was at work and greg had walked to home depot to buy a toilet auger. our toilet got very clogged yesterday and plunging it wasn't working. we even had watched videos on youtube to make sure our plunging technique was correct, and also to see if there were any other tricks we could do to help (we added some dish soap and warm water to try and break things up . . ) we also had borrowed my friend janet's accordian plunger, hoping that might do the trick. janet finally suggested that we should get an auger and she shared a link to a ten dollar one at home depot. so off greg went this morning . . and then wore himself out augering and plunging, plunging and augering . . adding more dish soap . . and plunging again. he finally gave up and said we would have to put in a service ticket tomorrow morning with our coop, but i insisted that chanda take a turn, so greg explained to her how to work the auger. her augering style was so brisk that i worried she'd break a pipe, but the only thing she broke was the clog which made greg very happy and made me dance around the room. greg had been ruminating on the wonders of modern plumbing and how dependent we are on it, and well . . all i can say is that it's wonderful to have a working commode again.
As I said before, this whole story sounds very stressful! Maybe Chanda should go into plumbing. They make good money and there is always a high demand. I don't understand why the toilets plug so easily. Maybe it is the water pressure.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if Mr. Bryant and Mr. Thomson are real people?
Whenever things go wrong with the plumbing, I always say to Chanda that she should consider it as a career choice as the pay is good and everyone always needs a plumber!
DeleteI thought that they must be neighbors, but according to Dickinson scholar David Preest, she's referencing two different poets'poems: The Seasons by James Thompson and The Death of the Flowers by William Bryant . .
"Poem 131 F123 ‘Besides the Autumn poets sing’ This poem was aptly titled November when it was first published in 1891. Emily is not now describing autumn, with its ‘sheaves’ as described by the poet James Thompson in The Seasons and its ‘Golden Rod’ of William Bryant’s poem The Death of the Flowers,’ but those November days before the snow comes. The mornings and evenings are sharp. The brook is quiet and the fairies of summer have fallen asleep.Only a squirrel remains to share her sense of loss. The last line is reminiscent of poem 1075 and the whole poem of Emily’s comment in a letter (L311) of early November 1865 to Mrs Holland, ‘The noons [now] are more laconic and the sundowns sterner........November always seemed to me the Norway of the year.’"
(Found atthis website)
Ah, so no neighbors! This is interesting what you found out about the poem and the references. Interesting that the title changed. Maybe she did not give it a title at first? I wonder what "Norway of the year" means.
DeleteI wondered too!
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