Emily+Dickinson



Emily Dickinson was an American poet who was born in Amherst Massachusetts. Spending the majority of her life in solitude, the only outside communication she had was writing letters to her friends. Dickinson created over 1700 poems during her life time, however only seven of them were published while she was alive. Her sister Vinnie had the rest published when she discovered a shoe box filled with her sisters poems. Even though Dickinson wanted those poems burned, Vinnie went against her wishes. On May 15, 1886, Dickinson passed away from Bright's disease. Today she is remembered as 'The Belle of Amherst' because of the beauty of herself and her poems. Here is an essay for more information.

The Belle of Amherst

The Belle of Amherst or as most people commonly know her, Emily Dickinson, was one of the greatest poets in American History. Although she came from an ordinary beginning in life, every piece of her work was a masterpiece. Her life’s history is shown throughout her works, which to this intrigues people. Emily Dickinson had a normal childhood in that she had chores and after school activities. What most people don’t realize is that she lived most of her adult life in a world of seclusion. She endured obstacles, and had to overcome prejudices against female writers. Today, we learn about her through the poems she created rather than the actual stories behind them (Crumbley). Emily Dickinson was born to Edward Dickinson and Emily Norcross Dickinson in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10th, 1830. She was born into a well-known family, but not a wealthy one. Dickinson was well educated under her father’s watch. Emily attended Amherst College in 1840 with her sister Vinnie, where she took classes from English to Botany. She later graduated in 1847. Her father Edward was a treasurer at Amherst College along with her twenty-year-old brother, Austin. Her mother was a religious housewife and suffered from depression. The relationship Emily’s mother had with her affected her greatly. Readers saw this in a letter Emily Wrote claiming that she didn’t have a mother. Emily never married and didn’t have any children. Instead, she poured all of her efforts into her poetry. In a way, her poems became her children; all 1,775 of them (Merriman). Emily lived in a world of solitude for most of her life. After her mother became sick and her father’s sudden death in 1874, she found little reason to go out. She stayed up in her bedroom most of the time. The only outside contact she had was from the letters she and her friends wrote to each other. This helped to make her writing more personal. Emily was constantly writing. She often made correlations that other people wouldn’t necessarily make. For example in one of her writing, she related publicity to a frog. Dickinson often used similes and metaphors. She wrote about her imaginary relationship with her mother in a poem called, “I am Nobody, who are you?” She dealt with things that writers today wouldn’t have to deal with. In her time, other people shunned female writers, as being inadequate to male writers. (Beyond books). Now that doesn’t make seem right, does it? Even though she wrote 1,775 poems, we only see seven of them as they were actually written today. Emily died on May 15, 1886 of Bright’s disease. Most of her poems were edited, revised and published after she died. Bright’s disease is a kidney infection, which is more commonly known as nephritis. Right before her death, she told her sister to burn all of her poems. Her sister later found a box in her room containing over 1,000 poems. Against Emily’s wishes, they were saved. Dickinson’s book of poems called, __Dickinson’s Complete Poems__ has influenced many aspiring poets today. WE can also learn about Emily Dickinson in a one-woman play that reenacts her life called, “The Belle of Amherst,” played by Julie Harris. Although it is no longer on Broadway, this play has been touring schools and it is also available on DVD (Wadkins). Emily Dickinson was known as “The Belle of Amherst,” because she predicted she would be the beauty of her town in the future, both in writing and appearance. Her home life was reflected in many of her poems. The relationship she had with her mother, inspired for her in her poem, “I am Nobody, who are you?” Her world of seclusion allowed her to focus on her writings and allowed her to write over 1,000 poems. Though only seven of them were published in her lifetime, the lost poems her sister saved became famous too. Emily wanted those poems burned, but thankfully her sister, Vinnie, did not listen. Even though Emily Dickinson is no longer living, she is still very much alive today though her meaningful poems.