Heres a virtual movie of the great Emily Dickinson reading her much loved poem "I had no time to Hate" This poem draws it inspiration from the Biblical message of "Love thy Enemy" Surely an eternal wisdom that is perhaps the highest of ideals regardless of religious belief or lack of that few if any of us manage to put into practice -
The Law and Love
"Ye have heard that it bath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say Unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
Matthew 5:43-48
The speaker of this poem declares that she did not have any time to hate ("I had no time to Hate --"), because she knew this hatred would be ended with her death ("Because / The Grave would hinder Me --"), and she didn't have enough time before that end, because life is short ("And Life was not so / Ample I / Could finish"), to finish the task of hating ("Enmity").
For the same reason—the brevity of life—she didn't have time to love ("Nor had I time to Love --"), but since she had to do something with her life ("But since / Some Industry must be --") other than sit and wait for death, she decided that the small act of loving ("The little Toil of Love --") would be sufficient for her ("I thought / Be large enough for Me --").
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 -- May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence.
Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime.[2] The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.[3] Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends.
Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Emily's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that the breadth of Dickinson's work became apparent. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, both of whom heavily edited the content. A complete and mostly unaltered collection of her poetry became available for the first time in 1955 when The Poems of Emily Dickinson was published by scholar Thomas H. Johnson. Despite unfavorable reviews and skepticism of her literary prowess during the late 19th and early 20th century, critics now consider Dickinson to be a major American poet
Kind Regards
Jim Clark
All rights are reserved on this video recording copyright Jim Clark 2011
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Kahlil Gibran "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" Poem animationby poetryreincarnations1,403 views
Lovely recital.
jeana1001 1 week ago
Thanks for your video response!
Emily Dickinson is a great poet!
SpringIsBeautiful 3 months ago
Incredibly fresh indeed is the message of the poem. It's so beautiful and true *astonishment*
pawsoned 4 months ago