Poem of the Day: ‘There’s a certain Slant of light’

The poem has the ballad meter that, by loosening and tightening, her genius could make express any mood, from joy to grief.

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Daguerreotype of Emily Dickinson in 1847 or 1848, detail. Via Wikimedia Commons

EDITED BY JOSEPH BOTTUM

Published: Mar 2, 2022, 10:57 AM ET
Updated:Mar 3, 2022, 11:36 PM ET

With “Poem of the Day,” The New York Sun offers a daily portion of verse selected by the Sun’s poetry editor, Joseph Bottum of Dakota State University, with the help of a North Carolina poet, Sally Thomas. Tied to the day, or the season, or just individual taste, the poems will be typically drawn from the lesser-known portion of the history of English verse. In the coming months we will be reaching out to contemporary poets for examples of current, primarily formalist work, to show that poetry can still serve as a delight to the ear, an instruction to the mind, and a tonic for the soul.

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Poem of the Day: ‘There’s a certain Slant of light’

Poem of the Day: ‘There’s a certain Slant of light’

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