Emily’s birthday is actually in December, but considering the talk of madness I just couldn’t resist the image with the little hat. I pilfered it from the Arts Hound announcement of her annual celebration in Houston four months ago. You can find the original image by clicking here.
We’ve talked about Emily in the past, and will talk about her I am sure in the future, so since this poem is short and sweet, I’ll try to just shut up quickly here and let the poem sink in for you. Written between the time of the white man’s arrival in America, and our modern age of dwindling forests, I find her commentary both wise and prophetic. There is of course the Biblical allusion to King Nebuchadnezzar, who went mad and ate the grass of the fields in the Book of Daniel, but this is one of those little gems that packs in a lot into just a few words.
A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown –
Who ponders this tremendous scene –
This whole Experiment of Green –
As if it were his own!
Talk to me: