This is the first April in which I won't be able to do a daily poem to celebrate this month of poetry. Sigh. However, I discovered a brand-new-to-me Dickinson poem that I'll use to kick off the month instead of Millay's babbling idiot.
Happy spring! Happy month of things poetic!
The Saddest Noise 1789
Emily Dickinson
The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,
The maddest noise that grows,--
The birds, they make it in the spring,
At night's delicious close,
Between the March and April line--
That magical frontier
Beyond which Summer hesitates,
Almost too heavenly near.
It makes us think of all the dead
That sauntered with us here,
By separation's sorcery
Made cruelly more dear.
It makes us think of what we had,
And what we now deplore.
We almost wish those siren throats
Would go and sing no more.
An ear can break a human heart
As quickly as a spear.
We wish the ear had not a heart
So dangerously near.
So the dawn serenade reminds her of the dead, hm? Well, it reminds me that the little sleep I've gotten is once again being interrupted, and it makes me cross. However, I like Em's interpretation better than my crotchety one.
ReplyDeleteA fitting kick-off to your busiest month - happy soon-coming Eastertide.
my favorite line "an ear can break a human heart". Exquisite.
ReplyDeleteAnd as they're jackhammering the street outside my window for the fourth morning in a row, I understand the death wish at dawn....
I liked your favorite, too, Laurie - so unexpected but fit in. And like Tanita, I hope this month slips by as smoothly as possible.
ReplyDeleteThe ear so "dangerously near" to the heart gripped me also.
ReplyDeleteThis is one I didn't know and I love it...very much the way I feel this year.
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