The Daisy follows soft the Sun, followed by the Evening Star, into the Insouciant Dark

Edicts on E. Dicks- A podcast about the Apple TV+ show "Dickinson" and the poems of Emily Dickinson

Salutations, dear listeners! Welcome back from a brief but patient hiatus. Today, Kyle and Ben tackle Season 2 Episode 4 of Dickinson, "The Daisy follows soft the Sun –." We discuss getting lost in the maze of artistic endeavors, relationships and marriage, and the complicated Amethyst web of Emily Dickinson, William Blake, and Wendell Berry. Join us as we journey into the dark without a light- the best way to know the dark.

We actually tackle three poems by three different poets today (plus a bonus haiku by Kyle):

Art buried in dirt?
Cultivate insouciance:
Compost for more crops!

Emily Dickinson's "The Daisy follows soft the Sun-"

The Daisy follows soft the Sun –
And when his golden walk is done –
Sits shyly at his feet –
He – waking – finds the flower there –
Wherefore – Marauder – art thou here?
Because, Sir, love is sweet!

We are the Flower – Thou the Sun!
Forgive us, if as days decline –
We nearer steal to Thee!
Enamored of the parting West –
The peace – the flight – the Amethyst –
Night's possibility!

William Blake's "To the Evening Star"

Thou fair-hair'd angel of the evening,
Now, whilst the sun rests on the mountains, light
Thy bright torch of love; thy radiant crown
Put on, and smile upon our evening bed!
Smile on our loves, and while thou drawest the
Blue curtains of the sky, scatter thy silver dew
On every flower that shuts its sweet eyes
In timely sleep. Let thy west wind sleep on
The lake; speak silence with thy glimmering eyes,
And wash the dusk with silver. Soon, full soon,
Dost thou withdraw; then the wolf rages wide,
And then the lion glares through the dun forest:
The fleeces of our flocks are cover'd with
Thy sacred dew: protect them with thine influence!

Wendell Berry's "To Know the Dark"

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.