« Quote for the Day | Main | A Poem For Sunday »
Medicating Thoreau
16 Sep 2007 09:33 am
We're lucky he was born in another time and place. The same goes for Emily Dickinson:
Dickinson is a handy touchstone of shyness, though perhaps she wasn’t quite the recluse we want to imagine. She was, after all, well known in Amherst as a knowledgeable botanist and master gardener, which implies that she rubbed a few shoulders. And she carried on lively correspondences with many people; though a shy person might hide behind pens and stationery, Dickinson’s letters display an openness and humor that are far from bashful.
The most telling observation comes, perhaps, from Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Dickinson’s editor: on first meeting her, he observed, “she talked soon & thenceforward continuously . . . sometimes stopping to ask me to talk instead of her — but readily recommencing.” Introverted, perhaps; protective of her poetry, certainly; but simply shy?
In any case, though, paroxetine would certainly have changed things, probably not for the better . . .
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2224950/21615253
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 'Medicating Thoreau'
Steal This Pill
Excerpt: Beware the demons you cast out, lest you cast out the best parts of yourself... Nietzsche once said, or words to that effect. The Enemy has long maintained that at least part of the reason we no longer see the
Weblog: Enemy
Tracked: Sep 17, 2007 3:16:05 PM
