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September 29, 2004
Fans of Dickinson
When I was 17 (or 18?), I saw an anthology of poetry titled All We Need of Hell by Rika Lessing at the long-gone (but deeply missed) Tower Books. I had to buy it immediately because it was a line from one of my favourite Dickinson's poetry.
My life closed twice before its close -
It yet remains to see
If Immortality unweil
A third event to me
So huge, so hopeless to conceive
As these that twice befell.
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.
Rika Lessing's poetry is a very honest depiction of her struggle with the drug, Lithium, used in treatment for bipolar illness. Her words are raw, powerful and vivid. Reading her poems, one can understand why hell is preferable and desired.
Today, at the library, I chanced upon a title that caught my attention immediately. It screamed from the spine of a hardcover reminiscent of a cheesy modern American romance novel.
All We Know of Heaven
It was the other line of Dickinson that I love so well. Instead of wishing death, this writer touches on the sense of bittersweet hope of Dickinson's poetry. Apparantly, the writer writes a love story inspired by Dickinson's poetry set in a small Californian town. I usually scoff at blatant attempts to write romance, but I've got to give a fellow Dickinson fan a chance, right? Besides, I've had my own little Californian romance not too long ago, perhaps this will bring back sweet memories.
So, yea...I read for various reasons and sentimentality is one of them.
Posted by lainey at September 29, 2004 08:55 PM