Emily Dickinson on Spring

Daguerreotype showing a young Emily Dickinson seated at a table taken at Mount Holyoke Seminary in December 1847 or early 1848With spring in the air, I thought the following poem from Emily Dickinson might help us mark the welcome change of seasons.  However, Dickinson also provides a cautionary note.  The spectacular inspires us, but it also slips by.  Spring not only arrives but also departs.  Our resulting sense of loss is like “Trade” encroaching “upon a Sacrament.”

 

A Light Exists in Spring

Emily Dickinson (1830-86)

A light exists in spring

Not present on the year

At any other period.

When March is scarcely here

 

A color stands abroad

On solitary hills

That science cannot overtake,

But human naturefeels.

 

It waits upon the lawn;

It shows the furthest tree

Upon the furthest slope we know;

It almost speaks to me.

 

Then, as horizons step,

Or noons report away,

Without the formula of sound,

It passes, and we stay:

 

A quality of loss

Affecting our content,

As trade had suddenly encroached

Upon a sacrament.

 

 

 

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Jenkins Competitors Move to the Quarterfinals

Congratulations to the students in the Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition who have moved on to the inaugural quarterfinal round of the competition.    The students will be competing on Saturday, April 14 at 1 p.m. to determine who will be advancing to the semifinal round on April 15 at 1:00 p.m.

The teams will be paired as follows:

Emily Gaertner and Jehona Osmani v. Simone Haugen and Anne O’Meara

Olivia Garman and Sarita Olson v. Katie Bakunowicz and Kelsey Stefka

Claudia Ayala Tabares and Alexander Hensley v. Elizabeth Grabow and Zeinat Hindi

Killian Commers and William Ruffing v. Be’Jan Edmonds and Ian Pomplin

Congratulations to all the participants in the competition.  We also very much appreciate the judges who grade briefs and participate in the preliminary rounds.  This year we had two Jenkins alums, Attorneys Lindsey Anderson and Averi Niemuth, judging together in the preliminary rounds.  One of the great things about moot court is how active our alums and volunteers are, and we appreciate their time and assistance every year.

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Playwright Aims to Prod Thinking About the Aftermath of Ferguson

Dael Orlandersmith says she does not have the right to speak for the people who were affected when a police officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on a street in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9, 2014.

But she can speak about them, and she does want people to think about themselves, their own communities, and the issues that were raised by the Ferguson incident and its powerful aftermath. The St. Louis Repertory Theater invited Orlandersmith, a well-known poet, playwright, and performer from New York City, to create a play focused on Ferguson. That led her to interview dozens of people in Ferguson and to write “Until the Flood,” a play that includes eight characters she sees as composites of people she interviewed.

Orlandersmith is currently performing “Until the Flood” as a one-woman show at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. She described her approach to the play – and more broadly, to her artistic work – in an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Eckstein Hall on Thursday.

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