Biography & Poetic Influences
Emily Dickinson was an American poetess during the 19th century, born in Amherst, Massachusetts, December 10, 1830. Dickinson died at the age of 56, on May 15, 1886. Although her family was prominent, she was most unsociable, being intensely solitary. People considered her as an eccentric, as she showed disinclination towards guests, which in some cases, even caused them to leave, leaving most of her acquaintanceships founded upon by correlation. Dickinson was known for her adherence for wearing white clothing, and her introverted personality. She remained unwedded for life, and rarely ever left her front gate of her homestead. Emily Dickinson started writing poetry in her youthful years, and was encouraged by Benjamin Franklin Newton to continue her writings. During her teenage years, she had uncovered poetic works through verses of Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Wordsworth, she also deeply admired by John Keats and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Her poetry was deeply affected by the Book of Revelation, and her Puritan background, that influenced her to explore concepts like love and death, and write in styles that made her be noticeable to the crowd. Critics believe that her biggest influence in poetry was Reverend Charles Wadsworth, whom she had met on her trip to Philadelphia, and fell in love with him. It is believed that her flow of verses came when Wadsworth left, which gave rise to heartsick poems, as she had considered him as her “closest
A time of influential literary, social, political, and economic movements along with a multitude of famous global events, the 19th century was a period of rapid growth and reform. During this time, the fallout from the Civil War had a profound effect not only on the citizens of America but its writers as well, who had their beliefs vigorously challenged. In particular, Emily Dickinson, one of the most distinguished poets of the 19th century, had close relations with Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who fought in the war and frequently advised Dickinson (Emily Dickinson Museum). Commonly known for her extensive use of slant rhyme, lack of titles, and her unusual use of capitalization and punctuation, Dickinson’s brief yet complex poetry has had a significant effect on American literature.
Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. The people that were part of her life were an enormous impact on her poetry. Her parents were Edward Dickinson and Emily Norcross. Her mother suffered a long term illness and needed constant care from her daughters. Dickinson’s father attended Yale College until Junior year, which he went to Amherst College. Edward became Amherst’s chief citizen and a successful lawyer, this gave his children the opportunity to meet many prominent visitors. Dickinson’s older brother was William Austin and she also had a younger amicable sister named Lavinia Norcross, “she was her longtime companion and advocate of her work after her death,” (“Dickinson, Emily”). Leonard Humphrey, her principal at Amherst Academy, was a mentor and a friend to Dickinson. Humphrey influenced her poetry. When Humphrey died, Dickinson was twenty years old. Humphrey’s death furthered Dickinson’s depression; “...the hour of evening is sad - it was once my
“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.”-Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson was a poet in the mid to late 1800’s from Amherst, Massachusetts.Dickinson was born on December 10th, 1840 she later died in 1886. Dickinson studied for a year at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley. With the exception of that she rarely had visitors or left her home. She wrote over 1500 poems, most of which were not published until 4 years after her death, when her sister discovered her collection. Emily Dickinson suffered from bipolar depression this is proven by an article in the American Journal of Psychiatry by John F. McDermott, M.D. which states Emily Dickinson’s poems “suggest, as supported by family history, a bipolar pattern” (McDermott). Many of Dickinson’s poems were influenced by the people
Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous poets that has ever lived, next to Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe. Interestingly, Dickinson published less than ten poems before she died. Although Dickinson never saw any success in her lifetime, she still made a huge impact on American poetry today.
Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts and died on May 15, 1886, also in Amherst, Massachusetts. During the 55 years of her life, she wrote nearly 1,800 poems. Very few of these poems were published during her life, most of them only being discovered by her sister after Dickinson’s death (Crash Course). Nearly all of her poems are highly complex, either being rich allegorical qualities or frequently contradicting themselves. In fact, Dickinson’s poetry tended to be so contradictory that she has been regarded as the “poet of paradox”. Growing up, the poet claimed to be “haunted by the menace of death” (Crash Course), and therefore wrote many poems about death, immortality, and time. She also wrote a lot about
As a person who was raised in such a religious home, it was no surprise that Dickinson was deeply fond of nature in her poems. She enjoyed all of God’s creations (Bliss 66). Emily Dickinson’s love for the natural world is apparent in her poetry, as her poems tend to take great joy in nature and feature some of the most original depictions of the natural world and its inhabitants (Priddy 51). While nature can be viewed as beautiful and harmonious, Dickinson also writes that nature can without warning, become life threatening and dangerous toward people (“Emily Dickinson: An Oerview” 34). In the same way that Dickinson writes about God and how God can be indifferent, she writes that God’s creation (nature) can be indifferent toward human suffering. While the Romantic poets such as William Wordsworth and Ralph Waldo Emerson related human emotions and nature together, Dickinson wrote about the opposite about how nature essentially does not care about human life no matter how beautiful it may
Emily Dickinson was born in Dec. 10th 1830,she died in may 15th 1886, lived to be 56years old!She went to A private school (only the rich could afford private school).She had gone to Amherst Academy, she studied for 7years thru that 7years she made several close friends.Her dad was a formal graduate and politician.
Emily Dickinson, the genius behind the quote “Saying nothing… sometimes says the most,” puts the best words in the best form in order to be relatable to by everyone. Dickinson had a way with words; she knew how to sculpt creations of her mind into literary masterpieces. Dickinson was known as one of the greatest poets during the Realism Era. Dickinson was thought of as crazy for using her reclusive lifestyle to generate ideas for her poetry because this was a new approach during the Realism Era. Emily Dickinson, a profound author who was inspired by her introvert lifestyle, wrote about abstract ideas during the Realism era, which is prevalent in her poem, “Because I could not stop for Death”.
During the rise of Romanticism, Emily Dickinson became a poet who was greatly influenced by the new ideas and ways of thinking during this time. Even though most of her poetry was not published until after her death, Dickinson's poetry became very well-known and respected. Her use of outward appearances varied from each poem, such as “To fight aloud is very brave” and “A wounded deer leaps highest”. In Dickinson's poem “A wounded deer leaps highest”, outward appearances are very prominent throughout the entire poem.
Most people do not know of any poets besides the most famous ones but some of the overlooked poets deserve to be heard of and talked about. Emily Dickinson was an extremely intelligent woman who had a love of writing. Her love of writing got her into poetry with she loved even more. Emily Dickinson was famous for her poems, that flowed perfectly and had great meanings.
Imagine living all alone most of life, only seeing family members here and there, but rarely experiencing things outside the house. What would come from it? How would it feel? Would great works be written? Emily Dickinson lived in seclusion most of her life, but in those years, her greatest works were produced. Emily Dickinson was one of the greatest American poets and her poems affected American Literature. Emily wrote very differently than those of her time. Her modern poetry style inspired new poets to branch out and try something different. Emily may have lived in seclusion, but she did not just sit behind a closed-door doing nothing, she produced some of the greatest works in American literature. Emily Dickinson’s early years consisted
The beloved poet, Emily Dickinson lived as a recluse to become the greatest American woman poet of the 19th century. Even in such peculiar circumstances, her works remain alive as she unites people through her talent. Furthermore, her poems were not recognized until after her death, her art is now praised with its impact on society. She intrigues readers with prominent themes of life and death and its comparison to living and nonliving aspects. Dickinson’s unique background, interesting purpose of poetry in I heard a Fly buzz, and perplexed criticism makes her poems relevant with age.
Poetry, almost as a rule, is difficult to interpret. The poet pours as much emotion, intrigue, and depth into as few lines as possible; this creates wonderfully crafted passages of verse that stand the tests of time, but it does present its own difficulties. Because the poet has so few words to utilize, they often give multiple meanings to one word, in order to increase the depth of their work. They also play with elements of poetry such as meter, rhyme, rhythm, and so on, to make their work unique amongst all the other great poetry in existence. Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous American poets, known for her deep variations from traditional poetry, especially her use of dashes for emphasis and for adjusting the meter of her poetry. Her poem 712, or “Because I could not stop for Death—“ is no exception from what modern readers have come to expect from Dickinson. This poem speaks of the narrator and her journey with a personification of Death, and the way this journey leads from the narrator being alive until after her death and her experience of immortality. It has all of the elements of poetry that Dickinson is famous for: slant rhymes, tremendous use of dashes, broken meter, and the use of capitalization for emphasis, all of which, along with Dickinson’s reclusivity from social life, combine to offer a complex poem with different levels of interpretation present in each line.
Emily Dickinson was born December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts, where she attended Amherst Academy. Her school required a course load very similar to their male counterparts, which is very rare for the time (“Emily Dickinson” Encyclopedia). Because she was consumed with schooling for her seven years at Amherst, after she graduated, the time off seemed to take a toll on her social life. Seeking to eliminate her feelings of loneliness, she joined the Mount Holyoke Seminary quickly after graduation. She soon became ill in health, so she returned back to her family home, where she consumed herself in housekeeping work (“Emily Dickinson” Poetry). It is not certain if she began writing poetry before the year 1858, but it has been said that she originally wrote to her friends and family for gifts, especially for Valentines Day (“Emily Dickinson” Encyclopedia). One of the poem’s recipients anonymously submitted one of her pieces to a journal, which ignited her self confidence and belief that she had a genuine talent for writing. Dickinson used the scientific wonders of the world to influence her writing. She also used emotionally strenuous situations, like the loss of an esteemed mentor, and her feelings of solitude and loneliness in her early life, to use as inspiration (“Emily Dickinson” Poetry). Much of her work was published after her death, by friends and family. It is said that if she would have published her work herself, the public critics of the time might have
It would be reasonable to say that Emily Dickinson as one of the most prolific and prominent poets, was a product of the cultural era she lived and worked. Her fascination with literature as well as her growth as the poet and the author was initiated by particular events from her biography, the moments that were defined by meeting people who played a substantial role in Dickinson's becoming a poet. Besides, because she started writing profusely at the time when the United States undergo one of the most paramount crisis in its history, one cannot avoid focusing on the role of the Civil War of her literary subject matter as well as her unique style of literary expression. As a result, to trace Dickinson's growth as a poet and her