River

It’s December 10th, Emily Dickinson’s birthday. If she were alive, she would be 193 years old. But that would be weird. So, why bring her up on Jeff’s Song of the Day? Well, for some reason, this song by Joni Mitchell, from her album Blue back in 1971, feels like it could have been a Dickinson poem had it been written in the 1800’s.

She’s observing the Christmas preparations, and she does this with a few very specific details. Trees are being cut down to take into houses, and not just decorations, but reindeer are being put up, carols are being sung. She wishes she could skate away, but it’s warm where she is. “It stays pretty green.”

Emily, in her poem “Snow Flakes,” is in a place where it is not green at all. It’s snowing in Amherst, and Dickinson is sitting by a window counting snow flakes. She is dutifully trying to write about their choreography when she finally gives up on the task and decides to dance along with them.

The poet and the songwriter end up in different places, one succumbing to a sort of snow-bound sense of joy and other leaning into the escapism of the daydream in order to cope with her sadness. Both pieces are steeped in detail and imagination, and I feel a sort of kinship between them. Despite Emily’s reputation as a recluse, the spirit of their work feels similar, and I can’t help but wonder if they might have made good friends had they lived in the same time.

If the poem interests you, please scroll down after the video to read it. It’s very short. Thanks for musing on this Sunday with me where it’s raining in Pennsylvania. Whatever winter preparations you are involved in, even if it’s just taking some much needed rest, I hope the music and poetry bring some added beauty to your day.

Snow flakes (45)
by Emily Dickinson

I counted till they danced so
Their slippers leaped the town –
And then I took a pencil
To note the rebels down –
And then they grew so jolly
I did resign the prig –
And ten of my once stately toes
Are marshalled for a jig!

Source: The Poems of Emily Dickinson Edited by R. W. Franklin (Harvard University Press, 1999)