on In this short Life by Emily Dickinson
The brevity here belies the gravity. To be simple, lyrical and weighty all at once in as few words as possible is a rare talent. While this one is simple, not all Dickinson verses generally are. Mary Oliver’s poem has that distinction of being simple and profound. But like Shakespeare, and unlike say a Wallace Stevens or a T.S. Eliot, Dickinson is quite dechiperable.
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