Here is a wonderful animated film of Emily Dickinson's poem "I Started Early -- Took My Dog," to celebrate the poet's birthday, December 10, 1830. The film was created for the Poetry Everywhere series from PBS and the Poetry Foundation. The lovely animation was done by Maureen Selwood and the poem was read by actress Blair Brown. You can read the entire poem here.
Like all of Dickinson's poetry, this one lends itself to such a wide array of interpretation, which depends more I think on the personality of the reader (some see death in every one of her poems, others sexual repression...and some get her humor). For me this poem suggests a young woman exploring the fearful, yet delicious possibilities of being overwhelmed by love, by life in the world outside her normally private domain. She seems to enjoy the exploration of the emotions such a journey stirs in her -- imagining herself stepping into the wildness of the sea, viewed by mermaids and greeted by sailors, until submerged beneath the waves. It's not about fear, but discovering something meaningful (and perhaps useful to the poet) in the emotional journey-- for the sea fills her shoes with pearls and leaves her confident enough in herself to return to land. "With a mighty look" even the sea gives its respect to the woman who knows her own heart.
Midori Snyder is the author of nine books for children and adults, published in English, French, Dutch, and Italian. She won the Mythopoeic Award for The Innamorati, a novel inspired by early Roman myth and the Italian "Commedia dell'Arte" tradition....
