Master Poets Collection: The World of Emily Dickinson

"I'll tell you how the Sun rose--A Ribbon at a time." The sound of Dickinson's poetry is full of such rhythm and passion it is often difficult to square the teeming imagery of her poems with the reality of her confined and lonely life. Though thirty minutes is not nearly long enough to explore Dickinson's work in any detail, this sampling may spur viewers to further investigate her life and poetry. Claire Bloom offers us a lovely glimpse of the enigmatic poet in this 1976 drama presented as a play in which Dickinson, her sister Lavinia, and a favorite cousin Louise entertain Thomas Higginson, a writer friend of the family, in the drawing room of their home in Amherst. Each character recites poems, letters, and epigrams written by the poet and through small bits of biographical conversation weaves the story of this strange and brilliant recluse. Recommended. Other titles in the series include: William Shakespeare: A Poet For All Time, Spoon River Anthology & A Poetic Portrait Gallery, and Robert Frost: New England in Autumn. Aud: J, H, C, P. (N. Plympton)