Download Emily Dickinson: Self-Discipline in the Service of Art AudioBook Free
Emily Dickinson exemplified the virtue of self-discipline. She composed poetry largely for her own pleasure, and to exercise and increase her creative talents. Hardly any of her poems were released during her own life-time, yet we know that she composed regularly - perhaps every day - over several years. Poetry was her way of knowing herself and understanding the world. She could control and express her ideas and thoughts through poetry, possibly the most demanding form of writing. Exactly what does it mean to be a disciplined poet? It means writing and rewriting poems until they seem to be as perfect as possible. Dickinson left out many drafts of her poems - sometimes including alternate wordings, as though to recognize that her writing was still seeking excellence. Dickinson's self-discipline was self-imposed. She satisfied no posting deadlines. She did not write for a patron who sponsored her creative initiatives. She did not expect the globe to recognize her poetry when it was written. Yet now she actually is considered one of the biggest poets ever to possess written in the English language. She appreciated the labor and the results of a job done well. Emily Dickinson is a model not limited to writers, but for anyone who desires calmly and determinedly to pursue a goal, even without the chance of an instantaneous reward.
