Emily Dickinson’s life has always fascinated people, even before she was famous for her poetry. She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, a small farming village, on December 10, 1830, to Edward and Emily Norcross Dickinson. Edward Dickinson was a well-respected lawyer and politician, descended from a prominent Amherst family; his father was a founder of Amherst College, where Edward was treasurer.
Emily was the middle child, and was very close to her brother, Austin, and sister, Lavinia. Emily spent almost all of her life in her parents’ home in Amherst, with the exception of the year she spent in boarding school—she left ostensibly because of illness, although it is more likely that it was homesickness. Emily was encouraged to get a good education, although Edward Dickinson had conservative views on the place of women, and did not want her to appear too literary.
When Emily returned from boarding school, she was very active socially, and was considered well-liked and attractive. In her late twenties, though, she suddenly cut herself all from all society, never leaving her family’s home, and started ferociously writing poetry. Although there is a long-standing myth that the catalyst for this was her falling in love with a man who rejected her, it is more likely that it was a combination of several factors.
Austin Dickinson married Emily’s very close friend, Susan Gilbert, but the marriage soon became an unhappy one, and Emily’s friendship with Susan eventually dissolved because of it. In addition, in late 1855, Emily’s mother fell ill with an undiagnosed illness, and from then until her death in 1882, she was essentially bedridden, and Emily and Lavinia had to devote a great deal of time to caring for her. This was especially taxing on Emily, who found all domestic chores stifling, and who was not very close to her mother. Finally, between 1851 and 1854, as many as thirty-three young acquaintances of Emily’s died, including her good friend and cousin, Emily Lavinia Norcross.
Emily began to dress only in white, and would see no one but her family, meeting visitors only through screens or behind doors. She wrote prolifically, writing almost 1800 poems, but her genius was never recognized during her lifetime. She published only seven poems while alive, all anonymously, and all heavily edited. Only after her death from kidney disease in 1886 did her sister find her poems. Recognizing their genius, she convinced her brother’s mistress, Mabel Loomis Todd, to help her publish them. The first book was published in 1890, and met with great success.
“After great pain…” is one of Emily Dickinson’s most famous and widely read poems, and one that has inspired a good deal of critical commentary and controversy. Because of Dickinson's notoriously private and reclusive nature, the poem’s apparent...
"As imperceptibly as Grief" is a poem by Emily Dickinson about the end of summer, the subtlety of the passage of time, and the loss that these changes create. It was written in 1865 and published in 1891. The poem deals with many of Dickinson's...
"A Bird, came down the Walk" is a poem by Emily Dickinson, in which the speaker carefully observes a crow as it eats, drinks, and then flies away when she offers a crumb. It was written in 1862 and first published in 1891 as part of the second...
Emily Dickinson wrote close to 1800 poems in her lifetime. Her poems are often extremely short, waste no words, and subvert the traditional forms of the day. She is also fond of the dash as a tool to signify a pause or provide emphasis. Her poems,...
Originally published in 1891, "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" is a poem by Emily Dickinson. In her lifetime, Dickinson was mostly known as something of recluse, rarely leaving her town or home. Her work was only published after her death in...
"I could bring You Jewels – had I a mind to" is a short poem by the American poet Emily Dickinson. Published posthumously, it was written during the early 1860s. Like much of Dickinson's work, it is brief and deceptively simple in form and...
Written during 1861—the first year of what is considered one of her most creative periods—“I felt a Funeral, in my Brain…” is both one of Emily Dickinson’s more well-known poems, and reflective of the themes of death, pain, and psychic...
"I started Early – Took my Dog" is a poem by Emily Dickinson written in 1862 and published in 1891, as part of her second posthumous collection, Poems: Second Series. Dickinson's poems were rescued from obscurity, following her death, by her...
"I taste a liquor never brewed" is a poem by Emily Dickinson written in 1860 and first published in 1861. It appeared, anonymously and with major alterations, in the Springfield Republican and was one of the few poems published in Dickinson's...
Emily Dickinson, the renowned American poet, is widely celebrated as one of the most important literary figures of all time. Among her many masterpieces is "A Murmur in the Trees—to note—," a poem likely written in 1862, but not published until...
"A narrow Fellow in the Grass" is a poem by Emily Dickinson written in 1865 and first published in 1866. It is one of the few poems that was published, anonymously, in Dickinson's lifetime by a contemporary literary magazine. Born in 1830,...
"This Is My Letter to the World" is a poem by American poet Emily Dickinson, dealing with themes of isolation, nature, and social judgment. It was written in 1862 and published in 1890. Dickinson's poetry was not widely known during her lifetime....
"Wild nights - Wild nights!" is a three-stanza poem by Emily Dickinson, composed in 1861 and published in 1891 as part of the second posthumous collection of her writing. Dickinson never titled her poems, so they are commonly referred to by their...
