"She can second-guess the sixth sense of the poem..."

27 April 2024: “She is like a receiving station picking up on each poem, unscrambling things out of word-waves, making sense of it and making sure of it. She can second-guess the sixth sense of the poem." --Seamus Heaney, quoted in this piece on Helen Vendler, who died earlier this week.

I was sad to hear that Vendler passed away, though ninety years is a lovely, long life. Her book on Dickinson is beautiful--full of riches that made me a better reader and teacher.