A poem (#1052)

I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea;
Yet know I how the heather looks
And what a wave must be.

I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the chart were given.

--Emily Dickinson

The above version is the one I read in a book at home; however, I've come across a slightly different version that seems more like Emily Dickinson's writing to me and appears to be the original.  I wonder who changed it and when.  I suppose the edited poem above was probably considered more readable because of the substitution of two less common words in the original (billows and checks), and the elimination of Dickinson's unique punctuation and capitalization.

I guess the word "checks" as used below was a term used at the time to refer to railway tickets. Knowing that usage helps with understanding the stanza.

While I was just looking for different versions of this poem, I came across something really neat--an image of the original manuscript in Dickinson's hand!

Here, then, is the poem:

I never saw a Moor --
I never saw the Sea --
Yet know I how the Heather looks
And what a Billow be.

I never spoke with God
Nor visited in Heaven --
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the Checks were given --

[composed circa 1865; first published 1890]

T'ang poetry

Recently I was reading a book about Li Po and Tu Fu (now more commonly referred to in the West as Li Bai and Du Fu).  It is a collection of several poems translated by Arthur Cooper, with lots of historical and biographical background included, as well as notes about the individual poems.  I love a book like this--there are many layers to it and it is a joy to read.

Here is an excerpt from a poem by Tu Fu called Night Thoughts Afloat:

Drifting, drifting,
what am I more than
A single gull
between sky and earth?

in the a.m.

It's a rainy morning here.  I woke early and drank hot coffee from a glass jar and read for a bit.  Then I took a walk to a post box to mail a letter.  Early mornings can feel really nice.