"It's Like Your Brain is On Fire"

         Good news for fans of 19th-century verse and historical anachronism -- the second season of Dickinson is here!

  

     That's right, the unlikely sitcom all about Emily Dickinson has returned, apparently still full to the brim with sumptuous period costumes, modern pop music, and dialogue that wouldn't have been out of place on Gossip Girl. It's vanishingly unlikely that anyone ever said the words "Your aura is negative right now" to the Belle of Amherst. Still, for all its comic juxtapositions, this show gets the core of Emily Dickinson right. As one character in the trailer says: "She's so extra."  

 

You don't write 1800+ verses by being laid-back.

 

 

     It looks like the sophomore season will see Emily confronting twin crises: 1) she's still in love with the woman who married her brother, and 2) she's not sure if she wants to chase publication and fame. If you want to know what real-life ED decided about the latter, here's a famous poem for you. 

 

 

                                                                      (788)

 

 

                                                    Publication – is the Auction

                                                    Of the Mind of Man –

                                                    Poverty – be justifying

                                                    For so foul a thing

                                                    Possibly – but We – would rather

                                                    From Our Garret go

                                                    White – unto the White Creator –

                                                    Than invest – Our Snow –

                                                     Thought belong to Him who gave it –

                                                     Then – to Him Who bear

                                                     It's Corporeal illustration – sell

                                                     The Royal Air –

                                                     In the Parcel – Be the Merchant

                                                     Of the Heavenly Grace –

                                                     But reduce no Human Spirit

                                                     To Disgrace of Price –