Proving Auden Wrong

Last Friday we celebrated the collaborative work accomplished by the Writer’s House here at Franklin & Marshall and many community partners through Poetry Paths. The celebration of Poetry Paths and those who have engaged in it reminds us all of the value the arts bring to our communities, our country and our society.

Seven installations have now been completed across Lancaster, and I’d like to draw your attention to one poem found at the Lancaster Public Library. “I Dwell in Possibility,” by Emily Dickinson, graces the piece designed by SALT Design Studio & Erin Gleason at 125 North Duke Street. According to the Writer’s House, the design “links the ‘I’ in Dickinson’s poem to the library as a source of information for all.” I think you’ll see the genius in that design after reading Dickinson’s work:

I dwell in Possibility–
A fairer House than Prose–
More numerous of Windows–
Superior–for Doors–

Of Chambers as the Cedars–
Impregnable of Eye–
And for an Everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky–

Of Visitors–the fairest–
For Occupation–This–
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise–

(from the Writing Department website at the University of Pennsylvania)

We’re proud to celebrate the art and beauty of poetry across Lancaster through the work of Poetry Paths, and I hope you’ll be able to enjoy one of the installations soon.