35. Favorite Poems of Emily Dickinson

Favorite Poems of Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson. 1978. 160 pages. [Source: Family copy]

First sentence: Success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed.

Premise/plot: This poem collection features some of Dickinson's poems originally published in Poems (1890) and Poems, Second Series (1891). It was edited by her two friends Mabel Loomis Todd and T.W. Higginson. There are four books: "Life," "Love," "Nature," and "Time and Eternity." Most of the poems are short.

The Mystery of Pain

Pain has an element of blank;
It cannot recollect
When it began, or if there were
A day when it was not.
It has no future but itself,
Its infinite realms contain
Its past, enlightened to perceive
New periods of pain.

My thoughts: I read this in one sitting. It is a book that I've seen about the house for as long as I can remember but have never read. It has my mom's name in it; but if she has been a lover of poetry, she's kept it a pretty good secret.

I like some poems some of the time. Poetry isn't my go-to genre. There are poets that I do tend to love. But more often than not, poetry just doesn't move me, move me like it's supposed to do.

There were definite phrases in some of her poems that nudged me, that made me think. But usually by the end of the poem, I was like I *thought* for a brief flash I was getting the poem and understood it, but then I blinked and lost it.

I think this collection does showcase some of her most famous poems. 

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