{"id":36509,"date":"2013-12-19T04:42:04","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T09:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/?p=36509"},"modified":"2013-12-18T11:42:18","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T16:42:18","slug":"writing-whatever-hand-emily-dickenson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2013\/12\/19\/writing-whatever-hand-emily-dickenson\/","title":{"rendered":"Emily Dickinson: Writing on Whatever Was At Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

We were surprised to learn that the great poet Emily Dickinson often wrote her poems on whatever scraps of paper were on hand: envelopes, a household memo, the back of a Western Union telegram. The fragments of salvaged paper that held her astonishing poems \u2014many of them experimental work \u2014 \u00a0have been collected in the beautiful book\u00a0The Gorgeous Nothings: Emily Dickinson’s Envelope Poems<\/a>\"\"\u00a0by editors Jen Bervin and Marta Werner. \u00a0Writes Bevins:<\/p>\n

Sometimes Dickinson\u2019s writing fills the space of the envelope like water in a vessel or funnels into the triangular shape of the flap…<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Gorgeous Nothings<\/a>\u00a0is a full-color facsimile edition of Dickinson’s late writings, reproduced life-size in full-color front and back, with an accompanying transcription to aid in reading them. For poetry lovers, and those interested in the creative process, it would make a sublime gift.<\/p>\n

It is curiously heartening to know that this marvel of a poem was written on the strangely cut out envelope, above:<\/p>\n

\u2019T was later when the summer went<\/em><\/p>\n

Than when the cricket came,<\/em><\/p>\n

And yet we knew that gentle clock<\/em><\/p>\n

Meant nought but going home.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2019T was sooner when the cricket went<\/em><\/p>\n

Than when the winter came,<\/em><\/p>\n

Yet that pathetic pendulum<\/em><\/p>\n

Keeps esoteric time.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

…And that this beauty poured onto the flap of an envelope “like water”:<\/p>\n

\"Emily<\/a>
Emily Dickinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 this\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 short\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 life<\/em><\/p>\n

that\u00a0\u00a0 only\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 lasts\u00a0\u00a0 an\u00a0\u00a0 hour<\/em><\/p>\n

merely<\/em><\/p>\n

How much-\u00a0\u00a0 how<\/em><\/p>\n

little\u2014is<\/em><\/p>\n

within our<\/em><\/p>\n

power<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…And the koan-like “But are not all facts dreams” was written in pencil on a fragment of \u00a0envelope:<\/p>\n

\"la_ca_11118_emily_dickinson\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But are not<\/em><\/p>\n

all\u00a0\u00a0 Facts\u00a0\u00a0 Dreams<\/em><\/p>\n

as\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 soon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 as<\/em><\/p>\n

we\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 put<\/em><\/p>\n

them\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 behind<\/em><\/p>\n

us\u2014<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Western Union telegram shows some of her process, of changes and crossed-out words:<\/p>\n

\"Emily<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

\"Emily<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We realize that when poems or artwork want to come, they can splash onto many things and do their work…<\/p>\n

\"Emily<\/a><\/p>\n

Want more of Emily Dickinson’s original writing? Check out this vast Dickinson Archive.<\/a><\/p>\n

For those who live in or near New York City, there is a riveting exhibit at\u00a0The Drawing Center<\/a>\u00a0of similar material . The exhibit is up until January 10\u00a0at 35 Wooster Street.<\/p>\n

via The Dish<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We were surprised to learn that the great poet Emily Dickinson often wrote her poems on whatever scraps of paper were on hand: envelopes, a household memo, the back of a Western Union telegram. The fragments of salvaged paper that held her astonishing poems \u2014many of them experimental work \u2014 \u00a0have been collected in the…<\/p>\nRead More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":36741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8361,458,6554,6548,67,6549,89,6329,6],"tags":[6958,6957],"yoast_head":"\nEmily Dickinson: Writing on Whatever Was At Hand - Improvised Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We were surprised to learn that the great poet Emily Dickinson often wrote her poems on whatever scraps of paper were on hand: envelopes, a household\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2013\/12\/19\/writing-whatever-hand-emily-dickenson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emily Dickinson: Writing on Whatever Was At Hand - Improvised Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We were surprised to learn that the great poet Emily Dickinson often wrote her poems on whatever scraps of paper were on hand: envelopes, a household\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2013\/12\/19\/writing-whatever-hand-emily-dickenson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Improvised Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theimprovisedlife\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-19T09:42:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-12-18T16:42:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Emily-Dickinson-envelope-poem-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sally Schneider\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@improvised_life\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@improvised_life\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sally Schneider\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2013\/12\/19\/writing-whatever-hand-emily-dickenson\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2013\/12\/19\/writing-whatever-hand-emily-dickenson\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sally Schneider\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fa7e3722002ee0c5ff9fde7a0753bc4\"},\"headline\":\"Emily Dickinson: Writing on Whatever Was At Hand\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-19T09:42:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-12-18T16:42:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2013\/12\/19\/writing-whatever-hand-emily-dickenson\/\"},\"wordCount\":373,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"envelope poems\",\"The Gorgeous Nothings\"],\"articleSection\":[\"books + zines\",\"creative process\",\"diy\",\"material\",\"materials for making\",\"mindset\",\"paths + processes\",\"poems\",\"repurpose + reclaim\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2013\/12\/19\/writing-whatever-hand-emily-dickenson\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2013\/12\/19\/writing-whatever-hand-emily-dickenson\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2013\/12\/19\/writing-whatever-hand-emily-dickenson\/\",\"name\":\"Emily Dickinson: Writing on Whatever Was At Hand - 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