I really love how you don't restrict yourself in covering only a certain type of media, but instead focus on engaging your audience with a broad range of interesting topics. Always a joy to receive notifications from you :)
I really want to start making video essays about fiction and poetry, which is tricky as hell compared to talking about more visual mediums. This video is a masterclass on how to make it work
Her cadence is so pristine. One of my favorite lines: _"Because I could not stop death, he kindly stop for me._ _The carriage held but just ourselves and immortality."_
It’s so haunting. It shows a deeply troubled young girl/woman. Something a lot of young women could relate to especially as a poet just coming out of the psych ward. Teenage girls are so complex!
As someone who has very little interest in poetry, I must say you are a true master of your craft. Every video essay you make is surprisingly engaging, regardless of the subject matter. I subscribed to you a few years back because of your commentary on film. I continue to watch your content because I've realized that what distinguishes you from other people making video essays is how you don't restrict yourself to a single art form. And you show a true passion for every subject you write about. As a fellow video essayist, I must say, you have remained one of my biggest inspirations. Thank you!
Perhaps "dazzle gradually" refers to the way the blindness fades away after looking into a bright light and that flash of truth turns to comprehension.
The quote describes Evans dedication. He doesn't always do youtube videos. But when he does, he spares no effort and every single one is both entertaining and brilliantly witty.
I'm kinda surprised you didn't mention anything about the Circuit in the context of harnessing lighting and constraining electricity in a way that makes it fit for human consumption. This poem was published after her death, so it's hard to tell whether she wrote it before the invention of electric light, but this poem really does sound to me like it has another layer to it about the harnessing, constraining, and lessening of lightning as it's diluted into a usable form.
Finally somebody talked about her. First time I read her poems I was in 9th standard and I just fell in love how she describes death and when I got to know her story. For me she is one of the best poets.
Thank you. That was the most mesmerising exposition of a poem I've ever seen. I love how you've used video structure and imagery to reinforce the message of the poem. It's almost as if you've added yet another layer to Dickinson's poetry. Beautiful.
As a postgraduate student in Literature, probably the single most important lesson I've learned is that great analysis enhances its subject and becomes part of the art itself. Criticism done well is an art form as much as poetry or film-making is.
For anyone interested here's that one: I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, And Mourners to and fro Kept treading - treading - till it seemed That Sense was breaking through - And when they all were seated, A Service, like a Drum - Kept beating - beating - till I thought My mind was going numb - And then I heard them lift a Box And creak across my Soul With those same Boots of Lead, again, Then Space - began to toll, As all the Heavens were a Bell, And Being, but an Ear, And I, and Silence, some strange Race, Wrecked, solitary, here - And then a Plank in Reason, broke, And I dropped down, and down - And hit a World, at every plunge, And Finished knowing - then -
@@phishfullofasha is it me or does it kinda describe what its like to go into a disassoiative state like for people with panic disorders? Obviously it can't be that simple but still, I like it.
You should include some discussion about similar themes in 'I heard a fly buzz.' She wrote so much about imagining her own death, and I've heard that stems from her relationship or lack there of with religion. Really amazing stuff you should enjoy studying her work.
I love this type of analysis, make me miss my college English classes. It's so hard to find this stuff outside of academia. I could listen to it all day. It's so intriguing and enlightening.
I admire your videos because you don't only introduce us to new interesting content, but you also put a lot of yourself in these videos. That's something which I have also been trying to do with my content. And believe it or not, you are one BIG reason that I decided to make videos. I hope you read this and feel inspired and creative to make more content.
This video refreshed my memory upon why Dickinson was such a bright poet during my study in high school. Your skill of explanation presents the ambiguity and complexity of her work clearly and fairly!
I already adore your essays, though I have never commented until now. This is something that could not have come at a more perfect time in my life, it feels strange to my mind, because I believe in a chaos theory over destiny. This is one of the few channels I have the bell for. I don’t know how to properly explain how much this means to me. I want to try. I’m named for Emily Dickinson. My mother was originally going to give me up for adoption, and she named me after her favorite poet as a placeholder name for my certificate. When she decided to keep me, she kept my name. I have very recently been arguing with my mother about truth, about the sharpness of words and defiance within myself and within her. There is an immediate anger we feel with each other, surrounding truth and lies. I’ve come to love my name, and I’m very overwhelmed to have one of my favorite channels create something that makes it even more dazzling. An even more bizarre thing, is that I am astrophobic. None of my fears, even harsh truths with my mother’s anger, have ever rivaled the terror I feel of lightning. It’s possible this poem has brought me to an epiphany that what I actually have, is a fear of suddenness. -Emily
That was a pretty sick comment Emily. I like your name too. My name is okay. Don't think I'm named after anyone, pretty sure my dad just thought "Blake" would sound like a dope name and my mom was like 🤷🏼♀️"sure!" Anyway, your story was way cooler. Hope you and your mom continue to grow and find happiness together. - Blake
Okay, I loved this. It was bloody brilliant. The fact that you do your best work when you a.) cover a subject that you know will not be be most popular and b.) restrict your self while trying new things, is amazing, and I admire you for it. Keep up the great work man, really loving it
"...somewhere between the blindness of not ever being able to see the truth and the blindness of actually seeing it..." Perfect close-reading. I really like your videos.
I've been a huge fan of this channel for such long time, way before I started posting music online and it's such an awesome and kinda surreal feeling to see my songs used in these amazing videos, that clearly have so much effort and passion put behind them, forever the king of video essays!
Great video, Emily Dickinson might be my favorite english speaking poet. I just wished you had talked more about little things such as the phonetic repetitions. For instance, when we read "surprise" it's not really that surprising: it rhymes with "lies", "bright" and "delight", as well as it repeats the sounds in "superb", so soundwise it is expected in that bar (wich just makes it more ambiguous, right?). There are other really interesting things she does with the sounds of words, she's quite a composer ("Success" is kind of mirrored in "Circuit lies"; "too bright for our" sounds like "infirm Delight", but reversed). Anyway, sorry if I couldn't really make my point across, english is not my first language and I'm not that versed in the linguistic terminology in english.
She’s my favorite too! John Keats is up there with her. Thanks for the further insights on this poem. I’m surprised you caught this stuff and English isn’t even your first language.
I really appreciate it when you look at poetry and other forms of writing. It warms my heart as an aspiring English professor that you have the ability and drive to light a burning passion for literature in your viewers!
Dang you got me. This is excellent content. You are a refreshing break from the easy content from other creators. Well done sir. Please don't stop this kind of content.
@@DovidStern He's not at all asking you to think. He's literally telling you the actual meaning of a really simple poem. If he wanted to make you think about poetry, he might come up with something a bit more interesting than "words mean things"
I love listening to people explain poetry. I never got the knack for thinking about poetry myself, but I sure to appreciate that a lot of people take the time to explain things in a way that makes sense to me.
One of my favorite things about this channel is you really delve into all aspects of media... as someone who loves movies and TV learning about poetry in a way that makes me care about it is great.
Try turning the screen away and just listening. Poetry is often much easier to understand when read aloud by most people anyway as the rhythm itself converys meaning.
It seems like reading poem and its explanation is like knowing about that person's inner self, his or her thoughts,how they see world around them for me knowing someone physically is difficult but knowing how they write and what they write tells more about that person.
Emily Dickinson is one of my favourite poets of all time and you are one of my favourite youtubers. I'm so extremely happy that you are analyzing her poetry 😌
Tell all the truth but tell it slant - Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind - wow... this video felt like just a minute that flew by. It felt weird being so lost in a poem, while it's being explained
This is so good. I stopped the video to like it at the fake ending, and then pushed play and there was MORE??!!?! I love the poem, too. This whole idea of “should I subvert the truth? Should I be blinded by it? Should I not look for it at all?” idea is something that’s very pertinent in my life right now, in more ways then one. Great job.
The combination of the poem, your explication, the lightning, and the crackling thunder, give me the shivers. I'll return to this short video, with the anticipation, at once hopeful and fearful, that the lightning in her poetry will spread from my intellect to feeling. Thank you.
“Tell the whole truth but tell it slant” a genius woman I was introduced to through the show Dickinson! It really did her justice while speaking to a new audience!
I can’t say enough how much I love Evan’s videos. He’s somehow able to get me interested in all kinds of different art. I feel I’ve become better at analysis because of his work. Also, his editing is just incredible
I would have never clicked on this video if it wasnt yours. Thank you man, seriously. You really are opening up new worlds for people here. A teacher is someone who sparks interest. You are a brilliant teacher. Keep at it.
My big question whenever I hear my professor analyzing a poem is how do you know what the author's message is. Maybe I don't understand the purpose of poetry but its an inquiry I've always had.
The way I think of it is that a poem is for you not less than for the author. Unless they tell us we can only guess what they meant, but while we can attempt to make an educated guess, do we *need* to? I don't think so, 'meaning' is contained in the person, not the poem, it is therefore subjective. Although of course venturing to understand the poetess' point of view and subjective experience of the poem can be worthwhile in itself.
I think the point of your video is amazing, especially the last one. I disagree with your assertion of two points though: one, that the grammar of the sentence about lightning necessarily points to the the question of whether the explanation eases lightning, since grammatically, you cannot leave out the preposition, “to the children”, when analyzing the logic, and when put all together, an explanation absolutely can ease a child’s interpretation of lightning, which doesn’t necessarily have to be fiction, unless we question whether scientific theories are truths or not; second, that “dazzle gradually” must be an oxymoron, since, like a good song, poem, or book, the first time we read it, we are rendered bedazzled, but a second or third go through can continue to dazzle us and enlighten us more deeply, and reveal more meaning to us in every successive repetition. It just felt weird that you sounded so certain about your claims in this video, not just about the conclusion, but about your premises, when they are so clearly in a, like you said “unstable place where language fails”.
This is my favourite of your videos so far. I've never read anything by Dickinson, but she sounds absolutely *dazzling*. Thank you very much for the indtroduction!
It's a poem about the contradictory nature of truth. How we want the truth, despite the fact that it may harm us. It has a very direct meaning. The beauty is in how the language itself is used to reinforce that meaning.
@@nathangomez4409 Truth cannot be contradictory. Truth is objective. Different people don't have different truths they have different ideas, opinions and beliefs. There is only one truth and it is itself. It cannot be contradictory. That would be a very Kantian way of looking at things and it's very wrong. Contradictions cannot exist in reality as well as not exist in truth, since all truth does is describe reality.
She was using contradictory to refer to our contradictory actions around truth. And if truth is objective, what completely unbiased entity has the authority and omniscience to declare the objective truths of this world?
@@ellw7830 I really doubt that's her message. And even if it is, the phrasing used is wrong as I've explained in my previous comment (also why "she"?) No such entity exists. And objectivity relates to conscious beings like humans. You cannot be objective if you are not conscious and if you are conscious and honest and logical, you will have an objective view of the world. It does not mean you will have the answers to everything, but everything you will claim would be objectively true. I can claim a ton of truths and I bet you could too. None of us can tell all the truths because that is not physically possible but we don't need to. Science tries to uncover the truths of the universe from a metaphysical perspective, laws (should) try to shape the best political details in a given system, introspection and learning help us on an epistemological level and art tries to do everything from metaphysics to aesthetics. As humans we only have so much capacity for truth as individuals, but that amount is what we should all strive for in order to live as best as we can. Nothing needs to declare absolute objectivity (and it's also impossible). There is no need for that to grasp at little truths here and there. Skepticism ruins people because even the truths they have are being set aside because of terrible philosophical fundamentals that do not want to even attempt to grasp at the truth that is available to grasp (if they just used reason they could fix themselves and not be miserable). If you want me to explain anything I'd be happy to. I'm still a student of all that jazz so I might no be able to explain everything, but hopefully I'm sufficient :]
Very nice and smooth video, considering that you are explaining poetry, the truth that Emily tells us is her own - but from how she describes it - I suspect it is a universal standard - that everyone will understand -
Poem: The curtains were blue English teacher: the poet is depressed as indicated by the colour blue, the curtains indicate the poet's tendency to shut out the world in her depressed state. Poet: The curtains are fricking blue!!!
@@jeniferjoseph9200 I'm not arguing against that. Certain things have certain connotations, but it does not mean that people cannot also use the same thing in its most simple meaning. The fact that something comes from a poet doesn't necessarily mean that the poet meant something in every single word. That's broadly not how poems are written. Stories maybe, novels possibly, plays certainly. But poems are most often written in the moment. They capture the mood as much as the content. It's what sets them apart as well as makes them inaccessible to a broader audience. Maybe the poet was indeed depressed. Or maybe they just liked their curtains blue. And maybe, I could be smarter than my teacher. That likelihood increases with age.
But then why even bother write a poem to simply explain the curtains are blue, what would be the point and why would the poet expect people to be interested in that? Poetry uses transformative language to explain deeper meanings and describe profound feelings and usually poems are brief, which is why every line is loaded with significance beyond just the actual words. To write that the curtains were blue and just mean that the curtains were blue would negate the entire reason for writing poetry, it just becomes a diary entry, a note for an interior decorator.
Yeah there are poems written in the moment. But they still know that blue means sad, if not intentionally. And I said any poet worth her salt would use metaphors intentionally. Someone who writes poetry thoughtlessly as diary posts, as you do, as I once did, is not a good poet. Good poets think carefully about every image used. Or else it’s just to emotionally vent.
@@grebo65 I don't mean the poem is about blue curtains. Blue curtains can simply just be, without any need to impart meaning in a poem that focuses on other things. For example I could write a happy poem with blue curtains in it as so: She pranced in wildly shifting glee Across the floorboard painted fresh It's hue a warming reverie Of tender oak and new varnish. Past the hanging curtains blue, Past the walls newly off-white She danced her way from room to room And took it all in her delight! ----------------------------- See, no sadness. I didn't even think of it. I just like my curtains blue and my walls off-white.
Writers write. ..it’s a gift , it’s a talent born . Only the writer really knows truly . Poetry teases the emotions . Words are tossed visually until they are married together. It’s also a freedom . The ultimate expression. Words are kind and dangerous and also delicious. Miss Dickenson is brilliantly gifted .
It is not a talent born, it is a talent earned. People put in a lot of work to master a craft, don’t dismiss the work by saying they were born with the gift. It is like an athlete, or a musician, it takes time to hone a craft. Writing is the same.
Your false ending at 2:04 totally had me. The first sentence of my comment was already complete in my head when you pulled out at 2:07: "Dude. You can't do a shallow close-reading. Certainly not of Emily Dickinson!" Not only was your second pass far deeper, but that transition was a fantastic rhetorical turn that would be damn near impossible in prose. Well done!
I just want to congratulate you on finding a visually compelling way to explain a poem, which of course is, and is about, language. The way you used color, animation and other effects is far more effective than just having the text on the screen and a voice explaining it.
I really really wish this video came out a day earlier! Yesterday, I had an essay due where I had to imitate Dickinson’s poetry and describe her writing style 😅
Definitely one of the best channels on UA-cam. Catches my interest and teaches me something I wouldn’t have looked up otherwise. I love it! Keep up the good work, brother!
As I read the poem, and with no conscious thought, this song kept playing in my head: Break it to me gently, Let me down the easy way Make me feel you still love me If it's just, if it's just for one more day Break it to me gently So my tears, my tears won't fall too fast If you must go, then go slowly, Let me love you 'till the last The love we shared, for oh so long Is such a big part of me If you must take your love away, Take it gradually Oh, oh, break it, break it to me gently, Give me time, oh give me a little time to ease the pain Love me just a little longer, 'Cause I'll never never love again 'Cause I'll never love again Songwriters: Gilbert O'sullivan
This is wonderful, thank you so much for managing to display such difficult analysis in a way which is short, understadible and beautiful! Would love to see more videos like this!
I really love how you don't restrict yourself in covering only a certain type of media, but instead focus on engaging your audience with a broad range of interesting topics. Always a joy to receive notifications from you :)
I really want to start making video essays about fiction and poetry, which is tricky as hell compared to talking about more visual mediums. This video is a masterclass on how to make it work
@@scifikoala Absolutely! Good luck mate
Her cadence is so pristine. One of my favorite lines:
_"Because I could not stop death, he kindly stop for me._
_The carriage held but just ourselves and immortality."_
* stop for
Whats the title of the poem?
@@septan4168 Because i could not stop for death. There is a great poem-video on youtube just check it out
It’s so haunting. It shows a deeply troubled young girl/woman. Something a lot of young women could relate to especially as a poet just coming out of the psych ward. Teenage girls are so complex!
@@ouinoelle Maybe men could also find value in that poem, and not just young men.
As someone who has very little interest in poetry, I must say you are a true master of your craft. Every video essay you make is surprisingly engaging, regardless of the subject matter. I subscribed to you a few years back because of your commentary on film. I continue to watch your content because I've realized that what distinguishes you from other people making video essays is how you don't restrict yourself to a single art form. And you show a true passion for every subject you write about.
As a fellow video essayist, I must say, you have remained one of my biggest inspirations. Thank you!
A Matter of Film your channel is great. Feels good to see you here 😁
Just saw some of your videos. That Red Wedding video was awesome to say the least. Keep up the good work man.
All the high school English teachers in America are cheering in vindication from becuase this comment.
Please do an essay on Watchmen (Zack Snyder's)
i love your account and essays as well! ✨🌷
Perhaps "dazzle gradually" refers to the way the blindness fades away after looking into a bright light and that flash of truth turns to comprehension.
this!
@@bryanweber8131 that's the whole point of the term, and I think he got it right by saying "perhaps". is this confusing?
there is an old song: perhaps, perhaps, perhaps (Quizas, Quizas, Quizas) :-)
Could the "children eased "be an adult ?
Bryan Weber i don’t understand, why should perhaps be used more often? to not discredit the other possibilities?
Talking about how Doestoesky writes his stories would be another great video to make.
Yes! Dostoevskij would be a great topic! The Brothers Karamazov especially
I love Doveskystanski
Yhea that would be great!
@@wiruwaruwolz I've only managed to finish the Idiot. I'll try the audio book today
@@elijahnnonde7029 I can only recommend it. It's a very spiritual book and well worth reading
_I don't always write poems. But when I do, I write 1800._
*~ Emily Dickinson*
1875 which is even crazier
The quote describes Evans dedication. He doesn't always do youtube videos. But when he does, he spares no effort and every single one is both entertaining and brilliantly witty.
1775
1789
Now this is the true representation of "weird flex but okay"
This video felt like just a minute that flew by. It felt weird being so lost in a poem, while it's being explained
@Ruben Lawas yea usually these videos dont feel like they take long, but this one really stood out.
felt like barely a minute had passed
I'm kinda surprised you didn't mention anything about the Circuit in the context of harnessing lighting and constraining electricity in a way that makes it fit for human consumption. This poem was published after her death, so it's hard to tell whether she wrote it before the invention of electric light, but this poem really does sound to me like it has another layer to it about the harnessing, constraining, and lessening of lightning as it's diluted into a usable form.
Markus Leben +
didn't think of that
mmmmh smart
Finally somebody talked about her. First time I read her poems I was in 9th standard and I just fell in love how she describes death and when I got to know her story. For me she is one of the best poets.
The last sentence is facts
Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks.
What about music
The poetry that sings the picture :)
i agree with the first part
~.ट
Zhong Huang cock
Thank you. That was the most mesmerising exposition of a poem I've ever seen. I love how you've used video structure and imagery to reinforce the message of the poem. It's almost as if you've added yet another layer to Dickinson's poetry. Beautiful.
I KNOW RIGHT
I.AGREE... I'm so glad I've stumbled across his channel... I could listen to him for hours
@@pla5730 definitely watch hie videos on music and art!
As a postgraduate student in Literature, probably the single most important lesson I've learned is that great analysis enhances its subject and becomes part of the art itself. Criticism done well is an art form as much as poetry or film-making is.
I need to start writing my essays the way you narrate these videos, as if with each sentence we both learn more about the subject
A day after tomorrow I have to write an essay on her poem "I felt a funeral in my brain"...
You should share it! I wish nerd writer would've chosen that one
For anyone interested here's that one:
I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -
And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum -
Kept beating - beating - till I thought
My mind was going numb -
And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space - began to toll,
As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race,
Wrecked, solitary, here -
And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing - then -
@@phishfullofasha is it me or does it kinda describe what its like to go into a disassoiative state like for people with panic disorders? Obviously it can't be that simple but still, I like it.
You should include some discussion about similar themes in 'I heard a fly buzz.' She wrote so much about imagining her own death, and I've heard that stems from her relationship or lack there of with religion. Really amazing stuff you should enjoy studying her work.
That’s my favorite poem from her
I love this type of analysis, make me miss my college English classes. It's so hard to find this stuff outside of academia. I could listen to it all day. It's so intriguing and enlightening.
I admire your videos because you don't only introduce us to new interesting content, but you also put a lot of yourself in these videos. That's something which I have also been trying to do with my content. And believe it or not, you are one BIG reason that I decided to make videos. I hope you read this and feel inspired and creative to make more content.
Subscribed :)
This video refreshed my memory upon why Dickinson was such a bright poet during my study in high school. Your skill of explanation presents the ambiguity and complexity of her work clearly and fairly!
2:02 I felt outraged for a second 😂
Your poem analyses are always enlightening and so well structured. Candy for the brain. Thanks!
^ what I want to write in my English exam.
What I actually write:”truth refers to not telling a lie. Overall she doesn’t like lying.”
🤣🤣🤣
I already adore your essays, though I have never commented until now.
This is something that could not have come at a more perfect time in my life, it feels strange to my mind, because I believe in a chaos theory over destiny.
This is one of the few channels I have the bell for. I don’t know how to properly explain how much this means to me. I want to try.
I’m named for Emily Dickinson.
My mother was originally going to give me up for adoption, and she named me after her favorite poet as a placeholder name for my certificate. When she decided to keep me, she kept my name.
I have very recently been arguing with my mother about truth, about the sharpness of words and defiance within myself and within her. There is an immediate anger we feel with each other, surrounding truth and lies.
I’ve come to love my name, and I’m very overwhelmed to have one of my favorite channels create something that makes it even more dazzling.
An even more bizarre thing, is that I am astrophobic. None of my fears, even harsh truths with my mother’s anger, have ever rivaled the terror I feel of lightning.
It’s possible this poem has brought me to an epiphany that what I actually have, is a fear of suddenness.
-Emily
wow
It comment should be printed for textbook 🙃 I think I have to google many words
Astrophobic
OK when it thunders I yell back like dog brake, roast a bit "I know u have voice now shut up"😂
I am glad for you, Emily.
That was a pretty sick comment Emily. I like your name too. My name is okay. Don't think I'm named after anyone, pretty sure my dad just thought "Blake" would sound like a dope name and my mom was like 🤷🏼♀️"sure!" Anyway, your story was way cooler. Hope you and your mom continue to grow and find happiness together.
- Blake
the backward droplets, the fake ending, the SURPRISE! just every little detail is just beautiful
Okay, I loved this. It was bloody brilliant. The fact that you do your best work when you a.) cover a subject that you know will not be be most popular and b.) restrict your self while trying new things, is amazing, and I admire you for it. Keep up the great work man, really loving it
"...somewhere between the blindness of not ever being able to see the truth and the blindness of actually seeing it..." Perfect close-reading. I really like your videos.
I've been a huge fan of this channel for such long time, way before I started posting music online and it's such an awesome and kinda surreal feeling to see my songs used in these amazing videos, that clearly have so much effort and passion put behind them, forever the king of video essays!
These were the videos I fell in love with from the nerdwriter, please keep these in the rotation
Great video, Emily Dickinson might be my favorite english speaking poet.
I just wished you had talked more about little things such as the phonetic repetitions. For instance, when we read "surprise" it's not really that surprising: it rhymes with "lies", "bright" and "delight", as well as it repeats the sounds in "superb", so soundwise it is expected in that bar (wich just makes it more ambiguous, right?). There are other really interesting things she does with the sounds of words, she's quite a composer ("Success" is kind of mirrored in "Circuit lies"; "too bright for our" sounds like "infirm Delight", but reversed).
Anyway, sorry if I couldn't really make my point across, english is not my first language and I'm not that versed in the linguistic terminology in english.
This was really interesting. Thank you for sharing!
She’s my favorite too! John Keats is up there with her.
Thanks for the further insights on this poem. I’m surprised you caught this stuff and English isn’t even your first language.
The raindrops turning from upside down to rightside up once analyzing closer was a very cool effect tbh.
@2:05 you got me there lol
I really appreciate it when you look at poetry and other forms of writing. It warms my heart as an aspiring English professor that you have the ability and drive to light a burning passion for literature in your viewers!
This explanation was so, so, sooo good. Dickinson is my favorite poet and this was super well done.
this is my favorite poem from now on.
Dang you got me. This is excellent content. You are a refreshing break from the easy content from other creators. Well done sir. Please don't stop this kind of content.
Are you implying this video isn't easy? It literally just said what a poem meant
@@Liliputian07 He's asking us to think. Some channels don't.
@@DovidStern
He's not at all asking you to think. He's literally telling you the actual meaning of a really simple poem. If he wanted to make you think about poetry, he might come up with something a bit more interesting than "words mean things"
I love listening to people explain poetry. I never got the knack for thinking about poetry myself, but I sure to appreciate that a lot of people take the time to explain things in a way that makes sense to me.
You know, our boy is somewhere now researching the shit out of something.
Is he coming back?
One of my favorite things about this channel is you really delve into all aspects of media... as someone who loves movies and TV learning about poetry in a way that makes me care about it is great.
Damn breaking new frontiers in video essays. You're a huge inspiration for my video essay channel!
Dayum she is such a great poet its so beautiful her craftsmanship
Poetry isn't great when you have dyslexia, my brain hurts. 😂😂😂
How would you show this as a movie
Celina K
what?
( dyslexic 2) I find the same thing but ont when I am reading it, when it is read 2 me it is a lot easier to understand
Try turning the screen away and just listening. Poetry is often much easier to understand when read aloud by most people anyway as the rhythm itself converys meaning.
It seems like reading poem and its explanation is like knowing about that person's inner self, his or her thoughts,how they see world around them for me knowing someone physically is difficult but knowing how they write and what they write tells more about that person.
i LOVE this. i’ve always loved emily dickinson’s poetry
IM OBSESSED WITH THIS VIDEO! Analysis doesn’t have to be dry, and your channel is a testament to the potential of the new media we have access to.
Emily Dickinson is one of my favourite poets of all time and you are one of my favourite youtubers. I'm so extremely happy that you are analyzing her poetry 😌
I'm a teacher and I'm working on Emily Dickinson poetry right now in my class. This is so helpful!
This was my favorite episode and turned me into a Dickinson lover. Thank you so much
The end card fakeout was brilliant. I was so enthralled by the poem, I yelled Nooo! At my TV
Tell all the truth but tell it slant -
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind -
wow... this video felt like just a minute that flew by. It felt weird being so lost in a poem, while it's being explained
+
The best part is that I'm so dense that I would've just went 'Ey, neat poem' without giving it a second glance.
This is so good. I stopped the video to like it at the fake ending, and then pushed play and there was MORE??!!?!
I love the poem, too. This whole idea of “should I subvert the truth? Should I be blinded by it? Should I not look for it at all?” idea is something that’s very pertinent in my life right now, in more ways then one. Great job.
You almost made me decide to read more Dickinson...
Finally notification is working properly
The combination of the poem, your explication, the lightning, and the crackling thunder, give me the shivers. I'll return to this short video, with the anticipation, at once hopeful and fearful, that the lightning in her poetry will spread from my intellect to feeling. Thank you.
"the great light is like a lot of shadow, it does not let see".
Octavio Paz
I love Nerdwriter's deep look into works like this. Song break downs, poem analysis, looks into color theory... love it.
Great video first of all. But where can I buy your mugs and other stuff? In the endcard it says "link below", but I don't see any. Please help!!!! :)
“Tell the whole truth but tell it slant” a genius woman I was introduced to through the show Dickinson! It really did her justice while speaking to a new audience!
I loved this! I'd be really happy to see more videos based in poetry in the future, but I trust your choices anyway! See you next video
I can’t say enough how much I love Evan’s videos. He’s somehow able to get me interested in all kinds of different art. I feel I’ve become better at analysis because of his work. Also, his editing is just incredible
excellent as always
The lighting was spot on. Also the drizzle helps set the mood alone. Great video
Where did you go Mr. Writer :(
I would have never clicked on this video if it wasnt yours. Thank you man, seriously. You really are opening up new worlds for people here.
A teacher is someone who sparks interest. You are a brilliant teacher. Keep at it.
My big question whenever I hear my professor analyzing a poem is how do you know what the author's message is. Maybe I don't understand the purpose of poetry but its an inquiry I've always had.
The way I think of it is that a poem is for you not less than for the author. Unless they tell us we can only guess what they meant, but while we can attempt to make an educated guess, do we *need* to?
I don't think so, 'meaning' is contained in the person, not the poem, it is therefore subjective.
Although of course venturing to understand the poetess' point of view and subjective experience of the poem can be worthwhile in itself.
your words are so deep and beautifully put together.
I think the point of your video is amazing, especially the last one. I disagree with your assertion of two points though: one, that the grammar of the sentence about lightning necessarily points to the the question of whether the explanation eases lightning, since grammatically, you cannot leave out the preposition, “to the children”, when analyzing the logic, and when put all together, an explanation absolutely can ease a child’s interpretation of lightning, which doesn’t necessarily have to be fiction, unless we question whether scientific theories are truths or not; second, that “dazzle gradually” must be an oxymoron, since, like a good song, poem, or book, the first time we read it, we are rendered bedazzled, but a second or third go through can continue to dazzle us and enlighten us more deeply, and reveal more meaning to us in every successive repetition. It just felt weird that you sounded so certain about your claims in this video, not just about the conclusion, but about your premises, when they are so clearly in a, like you said “unstable place where language fails”.
This is my favourite of your videos so far. I've never read anything by Dickinson, but she sounds absolutely *dazzling*. Thank you very much for the indtroduction!
Please do a video about the relation of Woody Allen films and Dostoievski novels.
Whenever the power goes out and we light the candles I grab my copy of the collected poems of Emily Dickinson like a shield against the dark. ☺
"As Lightning to the Children eased" is actually a Simile not a metaphor due to the use of "As" but other than that, love the video :)
I subscribed for the film essays, but now I keep on watching for these
tbf I don't get it...
It's a poem about the contradictory nature of truth. How we want the truth, despite the fact that it may harm us.
It has a very direct meaning. The beauty is in how the language itself is used to reinforce that meaning.
@@nathangomez4409 Or how insufficient language is to explain the truth properly.
@@nathangomez4409 Truth cannot be contradictory. Truth is objective. Different people don't have different truths they have different ideas, opinions and beliefs. There is only one truth and it is itself. It cannot be contradictory. That would be a very Kantian way of looking at things and it's very wrong. Contradictions cannot exist in reality as well as not exist in truth, since all truth does is describe reality.
She was using contradictory to refer to our contradictory actions around truth.
And if truth is objective, what completely unbiased entity has the authority and omniscience to declare the objective truths of this world?
@@ellw7830
I really doubt that's her message. And even if it is, the phrasing used is wrong as I've explained in my previous comment (also why "she"?)
No such entity exists. And objectivity relates to conscious beings like humans. You cannot be objective if you are not conscious and if you are conscious and honest and logical, you will have an objective view of the world. It does not mean you will have the answers to everything, but everything you will claim would be objectively true. I can claim a ton of truths and I bet you could too. None of us can tell all the truths because that is not physically possible but we don't need to. Science tries to uncover the truths of the universe from a metaphysical perspective, laws (should) try to shape the best political details in a given system, introspection and learning help us on an epistemological level and art tries to do everything from metaphysics to aesthetics. As humans we only have so much capacity for truth as individuals, but that amount is what we should all strive for in order to live as best as we can.
Nothing needs to declare absolute objectivity (and it's also impossible). There is no need for that to grasp at little truths here and there. Skepticism ruins people because even the truths they have are being set aside because of terrible philosophical fundamentals that do not want to even attempt to grasp at the truth that is available to grasp (if they just used reason they could fix themselves and not be miserable).
If you want me to explain anything I'd be happy to. I'm still a student of all that jazz so I might no be able to explain everything, but hopefully I'm sufficient :]
Very nice and smooth video, considering that you are explaining poetry,
the truth that Emily tells us is her own -
but from how she describes it -
I suspect it is a universal standard -
that everyone will understand -
Emily Dickinson? What about Charles Dickens? Philip K. Dick? Longfellow? Balzac? Hardy? Samuel Johnson? Wei Wang? Paul de Kock?
Yea? What about them?
I'm sure he'll make more vids about literature, did you expect him to cram everyone in one video? I'm confused
@@rozkaz661
There's a "joke" in the name choices that I think you missed.
@@JohnZ117 hi r/whoosh I guess, I'm dumb
Charles Dickens Longfellow is actually garbage though.
Got all of them except Wei Wang.. what’s the joke for this name?
Great video. I really like the break in the middle and the more settledness of the 2nd part
Emily Dickenson once said this: _I never saw a meme; I never saw a sea._
This video is a perfect example of why I love Nerdwriter :')
Could you please make a video on Morrissey’s lyrics?
amazing having the rain in the background awesome touch, I loved it
Damn I gotta read Emily Dickinson poems in school and now I gotta watch them on one of my favourite channels as well. Wack
James Le Bas 🤣🤣
It’s like you knew today was my birthday 😭 Emily Dickinson’s poems are treasure troves.
Poem: The curtains were blue
English teacher: the poet is depressed as indicated by the colour blue, the curtains indicate the poet's tendency to shut out the world in her depressed state.
Poet: The curtains are fricking blue!!!
Yes, but blue has depressive connotations. Any poet worth her salt would know this. It isn’t irrelevant, and you are not smarter than your teacher.
@@jeniferjoseph9200 I'm not arguing against that. Certain things have certain connotations, but it does not mean that people cannot also use the same thing in its most simple meaning. The fact that something comes from a poet doesn't necessarily mean that the poet meant something in every single word. That's broadly not how poems are written. Stories maybe, novels possibly, plays certainly. But poems are most often written in the moment. They capture the mood as much as the content. It's what sets them apart as well as makes them inaccessible to a broader audience.
Maybe the poet was indeed depressed. Or maybe they just liked their curtains blue. And maybe, I could be smarter than my teacher. That likelihood increases with age.
But then why even bother write a poem to simply explain the curtains are blue, what would be the point and why would the poet expect people to be interested in that? Poetry uses transformative language to explain deeper meanings and describe profound feelings and usually poems are brief, which is why every line is loaded with significance beyond just the actual words. To write that the curtains were blue and just mean that the curtains were blue would negate the entire reason for writing poetry, it just becomes a diary entry, a note for an interior decorator.
Yeah there are poems written in the moment. But they still know that blue means sad, if not intentionally. And I said any poet worth her salt would use metaphors intentionally. Someone who writes poetry thoughtlessly as diary posts, as you do, as I once did, is not a good poet. Good poets think carefully about every image used. Or else it’s just to emotionally vent.
@@grebo65 I don't mean the poem is about blue curtains. Blue curtains can simply just be, without any need to impart meaning in a poem that focuses on other things.
For example I could write a happy poem with blue curtains in it as so:
She pranced in wildly shifting glee
Across the floorboard painted fresh
It's hue a warming reverie
Of tender oak and new varnish.
Past the hanging curtains blue,
Past the walls newly off-white
She danced her way from room to room
And took it all in her delight!
-----------------------------
See, no sadness. I didn't even think of it. I just like my curtains blue and my walls off-white.
Writers write. ..it’s a gift , it’s a talent born . Only the writer really knows truly . Poetry teases the emotions . Words are tossed visually until they are married together. It’s also a freedom . The ultimate expression. Words are kind and dangerous and also delicious. Miss Dickenson is brilliantly gifted .
It is not a talent born, it is a talent earned. People put in a lot of work to master a craft, don’t dismiss the work by saying they were born with the gift. It is like an athlete, or a musician, it takes time to hone a craft. Writing is the same.
Both talent and learned
Plot twist: She's just high
As a long (long) time viewer, this is one of my favorites yet!
Damn....First view and like. 😎
This reminded me how much I love poetry. Thank you.
This is by far the best channel on youtube. Cheers from Brazil
This was like listening to a 300 level English course. I love how these videos speak to a wide range of audiences.
Your false ending at 2:04 totally had me. The first sentence of my comment was already complete in my head when you pulled out at 2:07: "Dude. You can't do a shallow close-reading. Certainly not of Emily Dickinson!" Not only was your second pass far deeper, but that transition was a fantastic rhetorical turn that would be damn near impossible in prose. Well done!
Artists are lucky to have your words serve them justice. Thank you very much Evan.
I just want to congratulate you on finding a visually compelling way to explain a poem, which of course is, and is about, language. The way you used color, animation and other effects is far more effective than just having the text on the screen and a voice explaining it.
I love how you are able to convey multiple types of media through your video essays.
One of the best channels on this entire Platform. Love these video essays. Would love to see another Q&A from the Nerdwriter!
i got chills with this video, near the end.. wow
Thank you. I've really missed your take on poetry. There are so few fresh reviews on the topic. I feel like you breath new life into them. Thanks.
I really really wish this video came out a day earlier! Yesterday, I had an essay due where I had to imitate Dickinson’s poetry and describe her writing style 😅
"The truth's superb surprise" and "dazzle gradually" are GOAT kinda things
I love your editing! Creative, witty, engaging, elegant.
This video is one of the best analysis of anything I've ever seen in youtube.
Definitely one of the best channels on UA-cam. Catches my interest and teaches me something I wouldn’t have looked up otherwise. I love it! Keep up the good work, brother!
I love the visual aspect of this one.
The lightning at the end hit at the same time as my old clock started chiming the midnight 00:00 👀 I'm dazzled!!! ⚡️⚡️⚡️
As I read the poem, and with no conscious thought, this song kept playing in my head:
Break it to me gently,
Let me down the easy way
Make me feel you still love me
If it's just, if it's just for one more day
Break it to me gently
So my tears, my tears won't fall too fast
If you must go, then go slowly,
Let me love you 'till the last
The love we shared, for oh so long
Is such a big part of me
If you must take your love away,
Take it gradually
Oh, oh, break it, break it to me gently,
Give me time, oh give me a little time to ease the pain
Love me just a little longer,
'Cause I'll never never love again
'Cause I'll never love again
Songwriters: Gilbert O'sullivan
This is wonderful, thank you so much for managing to display such difficult analysis in a way which is short, understadible and beautiful! Would love to see more videos like this!