maestokes 's review for:

The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson

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I never particularly enjoyed Emily's poems in the past, but thought I would give this collection a go. I think I am persuaded!  There are many (65, to be exact) poems here I found stunning. I was surprised at the amount of fresh, surprising turns of phrase, and at the instances of experimentation I found in what I always thought was strictly formal poetry. Not all the poems are winners, but it is impossible to know which poems she would have actually wanted published, had this collection come out in her lifetime. The pleasure in reading the whole smorgasbord, though, is deciphering her life--playing historian--through the poetry. Best of all, for me, were the Sufjan-Stevens-esque "is this about God, or is it Gay?" poems. I also loved all the nature writing, storm poems most of all. As is stated in the introduction of my copy, Emily seems to be a mystic, and I now think of her as a kindred spirit. 
My Favorites: 
I Started Early, Took My Dog
I Showed Her Heights She Never Saw
The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants
I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed
I Like to See it Lap the Miles
An Altered Look About the Hills
Blazing in Gold and Quenching in Purple
It Lifts from Leaden Sieves
Presentiment is that Long Shadow on the Lawn
She Slept Beneath a Tree
What Mystery Pervades a Well!
Could I But Ride Indefinite
The Moon was but a Chin of Gold
The Cricket Sang
I Cannot Live with You
Wild Nights! Wild Nights!
My Cocoon Tightens, Colors Tease
Except to Heaven, She is Nought
The Daisy Follows Soft the Sun
Death Sets a Thing Significant
I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died
One Sister Have I in our House
Ah, Teneriffe!
The Largest Fire Ever Known
A Cap of Lead ACross the Sky
On My Volcano Grows the Grass
To Pile Like Thunder to its Close
I Did Not Reach Thee