After spending the morning crawling around Quabbin Park with the local mycologists, the afternoon found me among the more cultivated environs of the "Poetry in the Garden" event at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst. Local author Todd Felton discussed the history and philosophies presented in his book "A Journey into Transcendentalists' New England" and how these influenced, despite her relative isolation, Emily Dickinson's poetry. The full text of his remarks can be found at:
http://www.redroom.com/blog/robert-todd-felton/remarks-poetry-garden-event-emily-dickinson-museum
Todd set the stage for the poetry by describing the vitality of the early Boston, Concord, and Amherst; the growth of the Universalism as a religious movement; and the intellectual surge fostered by the growing number of academic institutions.
Todd set the stage for the poetry by describing the vitality of the early Boston, Concord, and Amherst; the growth of the Universalism as a religious movement; and the intellectual surge fostered by the growing number of academic institutions.