Emily Dickinson was an innovative American poet who wrote about nature, spirituality, death, and loneliness. She was born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts and came from a wealthy and educated family. After finishing her education, she became reclusive and rarely left her home. During her lifetime, only ten of her poems were published, but after her death, her family discovered over 1,700 of her poems. Her work was edited and compiled by literary critics, but her original work was not published until 1955. Dickinson’s poems are now commonly taught in schools and colleges and have had a significant influence on contemporary American poetry.
Emily Dickinson is one of America’s most popular poets, known for her innovative use of free verse and her insights into topics such as the natural world, spirituality, death and loneliness.
Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts and spent her entire life in her childhood home. Dickinson came from a wealthy and educated family; her father was a state senator and later a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Dickinson attended an exclusive private school, Amherst Academy, and attended college at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, now called Mount Holyoke College. After finishing her education, however, Emily Dickinson became reclusive and rarely left her Amherst home. She died at the age of 55, of a kidney disease called nephritis.
During Emily Dickinson’s lifetime, she was completely unknown as a poet. Only ten of her poems were published while she was alive. After Dickinson’s death, however, her family discovered a collection of hand-bound volumes containing more than 1,700 of her poems.
A literary critic, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and Mabel Loomis Todd, a friend of the Dickinson family, recognized Emily Dickinson’s linguistic ability. They have compiled and edited a number of posthumous collections. Unfortunately, their editing work detracted from Dickinson’s poems. They adapted each poem to the standards of the time, getting rid of the extravagant grammar and punctuation for which Emily Dickinson’s work is now famous. Although the edited manuscripts received widespread acclaim, Dickinson’s work was not published in its original form until 1955.
Today, Emily Dickinson’s poems are commonly taught in high school and college courses. None of her poems have a title, and so they are indicated by number or by their first line. One of Dickinson’s most famous poems is called “I heard a fly buzzing – when I died.” In the poem, the speaker is poised between life and death; the fly is the final and disturbing image of her life.
Emily Dickinson’s poetry is also known for her sense of musicality. Although Dickinson did not write in rhyming verse, like most poets of her time, each of her poems has a sense of meter and can easily be set to music.
Although Emily Dickinson rarely left home after her formative years, she wrote thousands of letters to friends and acquaintances during her lifetime. Her most frequent correspondent was Susan Gilbert, who was married to Emily’s brother Austin. Many biographers have speculated that Emily was in love with Susan; however, there is no evidence that they engaged in a sexual relationship.
Emily Dickinson’s work has had an enormous influence on contemporary American poetry. She and her contemporary, Walt Whitman, were primarily responsible for the shift from formal and rhymed poetry to free verse. Dickinson’s work was also innovative in its use of capitalization and hyphens, as well as in its subject matter. Her often dark emotional theme paved the way for modern poets such as Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton.
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