Emily Dickinson Biography - 1708 Words

Emily Dickinson, regarded as one of America’s greatest poets, is also well known for her unusual life of self imposed social seclusion. Living a life of simplicity and seclusion, she yet wrote poetry of great power; questioning the nature of immortality and death. Her different lifestyle created an aura; often romanticized, and frequently a source of interest and speculation. But ultimately Emily Dickinson is remembered for her unique poetry. Within short, compact phrases she expressed far-reaching ideas; amidst paradox and uncertainty her poetry has an undeniable capacity to move and provoke. Emily Dickinson grew up in a prominent and prosperous household in Amherst, Massachusetts. Along with her younger sister Vinnie and older brother†¦show more content†¦Dickinson neither completed many poems nor prepared them for publication. She wrote her drafts on scraps of paper, grocery lists, and the backs of recipes and used envelopes. Early editors of her poems took the liberty of making them more accessible to nineteenth-century readers when several volumes of selected poems were published in the 1890s. The poems were made to appear like traditional nineteenth-century verse by assigning them titles, rearranging their syntax, normalizing their grammar, and regularizing their capitalizations. Instead of dashes editors used standard punctuation; instead of the highly elliptical telegraphic lines so characteristic of her poems editors added articles, conjunctions, and prepositions to make them more readable and in line with conventional expectations. In addition, the poems were made more predictable by organizing them into categories such friends, nature, love, and death. Not until 1955, when Thomas Johnson published Dickinsons complete works in a form that attempted to be true to her manuscript versions, did readers have an opportunity to see the full range of her style and themes. Dickinson found irony, ambiguity, and paradox lurking in the simplest and commonest experiences. The materials and subject matter of her poetry are quite conventional. Her poems are filled with robins, bees, winter light, householdShow MoreRelatedSolitude Of A Poet By Emily Dickinson1545 Words   |  7 Pagesin Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson was one of three children to Edward Dickinson and his wife, Emily Dickinson. According to Pettinger, Dickinson’s roots trace back to her Puritan ancestors from England in the 17th century, who later immigrated to America to freely exercise their religion (Pettinger, The Biography of Emily Dickinson). Dickinson was a quiet, intelligent individual, excelling in Amherst Academy, a school founded by her grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, and later the Mount HolyokeRead MoreEmily Dickinson : A Lover Of Nature1384 Words   |  6 PagesEmily Dickinson: a Lover of Nature Uplifting, longing, and passionate are all feelings that a reader will recognize when he reads one of Emily Dickinson’s poems. When talking about nature, Dickinson uses emotional and exceptional diction to describe what she feels. In her poems, she uses the theme of nature to give her poems a certain feeling that makes the reader never forget about it. Although some critics think that her work expresses her fears, actually Emily Dickinson expresses her unique loveRead MoreMortailty and Eternity in Emily Dickinson Poems Essay1541 Words   |  7 PagesEmily Dickinson is the epitome of the modern poet. Her poetry breaks from the traditional style with dashes to separate ideas. Dickinson, also, challenged the religious belief of her time. Growing up as a Puritan in Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson knew the bible, yet as an adult, she questioned that belief. Many of her poems seem focused on death; death of the body, death of the soul, death of the mind. Why was she so intrigued with death? The poems that embody this theme are: â€Å"Success is countedRead MoreEmily Dickinson s Emily And The English Specking World Essay1744 Words   |  7 Pages Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson is a very well-known poet. Emily wrote many poems. She has written 1700-2000 poems (4) According to Nicolas Tredell, there was â€Å"only eleven poems published during her lifetime.† (4) She did not know about most of them being published. Dickinson’s sister found the poems and turned them in to be published. Emily did not want her poems to be seen. Dickinson is one of the great poets. Her poems were produced by America and the English-specking world (1). Emily had aRead MoreConsidered As One Of America’S Most Famous Poets, Emily1430 Words   |  6 Pagesfamous poets, Emily Dickinson wrote a variety of poetry throughout her adulthood. Yet, she failed to gain literary notice during her own lifetime (â€Å"Biography of Emily Dickinson†). Her vast ambiguity as a poet was not because of lackluster poems, however, she failed to publish nearly all of the eighteen hundred poems she had written before her death on May 15th, 1886 (â€Å"Biography †). Left to rot, Dickinson’s poems lay hidden until their final discovery by her sister, Lavinia Dickinson, who then submittedRead MoreEssay on Emily Dickinson: Life and Literature1068 Words   |  5 Pages The life led by Emily Dickinson was one secluded from the outside world, but full of color and light within. During her time she was not well known, but as time progressed after her death more and more people took her works into consideration and many of them were published. Dickinson’s life was interesting in its self, but the life her poems held, changed American Literature. Emily Dickinson led a unique life that emotionally attached her to her writing and the people who would read them long afterRead MoreEmily Dickinson1172 Words   |  5 PagesEmily Dickinson’s works are studied by various audiences from high school students to college scholars. Even without striving to hope that her works would impact so many generations, Dickinson has influence d many generations of poets and plays a major role in the development of American Literature. Dickinson did not become famous for her works until after her death in 1886. Not only is Emily Dickinson’s work important to the study of American Literature, most of her writings were composed duringRead MoreEmily Dickinsons Success Is Counted Sweetest Criticism883 Words   |  4 PagesJirawoot Sararit (B.A. English Linguistics) 1st Class Honors, SWU, Thailand Success Is Counted Sweetest Success Is Counted Sweetest is a well-known poem written by Emily Dickinson in 1859. It is obviously seen that the message of the poem is that people who do not succeed are those who truly understand success for what it is (Cummings, 2013). In other words, deprivation can lead to greater understanding and appreciation of what people lack. This paper is composed of three pointsRead MoreEmily Dickinson : Love, Life And Passion950 Words   |  4 PagesZhana Sabevska Professor Smith English 1102 8 February 2014 Emily Dickinson: Love, Life and Passion Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830-1886), one of the most enigmatic figures of the world of literature. The daughter of a lawyer, she was born in Amherst, a small provincial town of Massachusetts. For more than three decades of her creative activity she wrote nearly, 1775 poems and 1049 letters. The poetry of Emily Dickinson is like a warm spring breeze, so sensual and gentle, but also sharply stickingRead MoreUnique Elements Within Dickinson s Poetry1188 Words   |  5 PagesPoetry Emily Dickinson is considered to be one of the most popular and prolific poets of her time period. Dickinson had a unique style of writing which pulled in influence from both the Romantic and Realist periods. Dickinson’s style of writing had many elements, such as imagery and advanced vocabulary, which helped differentiate herself from other poets. Dickinson also explored a wide range of subjects throughout her poetry, mainly writing about religion, death, and the mind (Emily Dickinson 1659)