A Murmur in the Trees

by Emily Dickinson, Ferris Cook (Editor)

Emily Dickinson is one of the world's best known and most widely read poets, though at the time of her death in 1886, only seven of her more than 1000 poems had been published. But shortly thereafter, the genius of her work was recognized and it has since received wide and consistent acclaim. Her verse - noted for its style, wit and bold and startling imagery - has greatly influenced the direction of 20th-century poetry. The 112 poems in this collection are taken from the definitive Johnson edition of her work and are accompanied by 65 pencil drawings, created especially for the book by Ferris Cook.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Emily Dickinson was an American poet who, despite the fact that less than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime, is widely considered one of the most original and influential poets of the 19th century.

Dickinson was born to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence.

Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime.The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends.

Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Emily's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that the breadth of Dickinson's work became apparent. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, both of whom heavily edited the content.

A complete and mostly unaltered collection of her poetry became available for the first time in 1955 when The Poems of Emily Dickinson was published by scholar Thomas H. Johnson. Despite unfavorable reviews and skepticism of her literary prowess during the late 19th and early 20th century, critics now consider Dickinson to be a major American poet.

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/emily-di...

Reviews

[Caterina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides—
You may have met Him—did you not
His notice sudden is—

The Grass divides as with a Comb—
A spotted shaft is seen—
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on—

He likes a Boggy Acre
A floor too cool for Corn—
Yet when a Boy, and Barefoot—
I more than once at Noon
Have passed, I thought, a Whip lash
Unbraiding in the Sun
When stooping to secure it
It wrinkled, and was gone—

Several of Nature’s People
I know, and they know me—
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality—

But never met this Fellow
Attended, or alone
Without a tighter breathing
And Zero at the Bone—

*******************

At the back of my soggy quarter-acre-gone-wild, I nearly stepped on a big, fat Fellow in the Grass — not so narrow! — for his kind — and immediately thought of this poem. Luckily, he (maybe a water moccasin) was as keen to get away from me as I from him. At one time we had a shed back there that mice and rats found quite commodious. Tender hearts that we are, when my husband was disassembling the shed he uncovered a mouse nest full of babies under the floorboards, and just took a picture with his phone and covered it back up. Now, owls and snakes aplenty. Our new cat made a beeline (a catline?) for that part of the backyard. We’re in the company of frogs, lizards, skinks, rabbits, coyotes, armadillos, possums, birds, bees, butterflies, wildflowers and bugs galore. All plentiful inhabitants of Dickinson’s less-ravaged world (well maybe no armadillos in New England)— and still hanging onto life in ours, on the rare un-round-up’d plot.

How have I never really lingered before in the world of Emily Dickinson? — Of course I've read her poetry, even studied her in school — but to dwell freely with her poems — is to meet a kindred soul and a fierce, almost alien intelligence. Who else can translate the spectrum of experience, from joyful lightness to stinging melancholy, into the pith of poetry as she did?

This short collection of 100+ poems emphasizes Dickinson’s nature poems, selected and illustrated with fine pencil drawings by artist Ferris Cook. It’s attractively bound and printed. (I received it as a gift, and treasure it.) It was part of a series of poetry collections illustrated by Cook in the 1990s that included Neruda, Shakespeare, Rilke, and themed multi-poet collections.

*******************

Good morning—Midnight—
I'm coming Home—
Day—got tired of Me—
How could I—of Him?

Sunshine was a sweet place—
I liked to stay—
But Morn—didn't want me—now—
So—Goodnight—Day!

I can look—can't I—
When the East is Red?
The Hills—have a way—then—
That puts the Heart—abroad—

You—are not so fair—Midnight—
I chose—Day—
But—please take a little Girl—
He turned away!

********************
And my favorite:


To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.

********************
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Ready now, I think, to dive into the deeper, more bracing pool of Dickinson's Complete Poems.

********************

[Tom Peyton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know a place where Summer strives
With such a practised Frost-
She-each year-leads her Daisies back-
Recording briefly- "Lost" -

But when the South Wind stirs the Pools
And struggles in the lanes-
Her Heart misgives Her, for Her Vow-
And she pours soft Refrains

Into the lap of Adamant-
And spices-and the Dew-
That stiffens quietly to Quartz-
Upon her Amber Shoe-

🔥🔥🔥🔥

[mel (taylor’s version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm in love with Dickinson's poems, they're amazing and i'm very thankful for this edition, the illustrations are very beautiful and useful.

[Bill W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t imagine a nicer presentation of poetry. I love the drawings, the selection of poems, the paper, the font, the binding, everything. It is a lovely book.

As for the poems themselves, there is clearly a lot more to them than I can understand. I would like to learn their secrets one day. But for now I am content to read them and wonder.

[Michelle Kleber · Rating 5 out of 5]

288, 425, 566, 1275

[Noah Goodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good but missing a lot of her most interesting poems. 3 stars because the curation is so bad/outdated, 5 stars for Emily Dickinson

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A murmur in the trees"

The title is another beautiful rolling poem

A murmur in the trees to note,
Not loud enough for wind;
A star not far enough to seek,
Nor near enough to find;………………….
So go your way and I'll go mine, ?
No fear you'll miss the road.

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of nature poems by Emily Dickinson. This is a nice edition, and a lovely gift for someone who might not be totally familiar with the poetess' work.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection. Contains all her best poems.