The World in a Frame

Twenty-five years after Emily Dickinson died, Will Barnet was born. Both from New England, the poet and the artist found inspiration for much of their work in their region's geography, climate, and culture. Yet both rejected provincialism and forged their own paths--Dickinson (1830-1886) changed the face of poetry with inventive phrasing, punctuation, rhyme schemes, and subject matter and was viewed by many of her neighbors and contemporaries as an eccentric. Barnet (b. 1911)--who moved to New York City in the middle of the Depression--in each decade of his long career has maintained a vibrant intellectual and artistic life, bringing ever-expanding vision and heart to his work. He is one of America's most important contemporary artists. Barnet's respect and love for Dickinson's poetry sing from the drawings reproduced in this book. The World in a Frame presents forty-six poems by Emily Dickinson and twenty-four drawings by Will Barnet. An introduction by critic, essayist, and author Christopher Benfey offers a fascinating glimpse of Dickinson's life and personality while exploring the juxtaposition of her work with Barnet's art. Drawings by Will Barnet, poems by Emily Dickinson, and introduction by Christopher Benfey.