...Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson was a brilliant American poet, and an obsessively private writer. During her lifetime, only seven of her eighteen hundred poems were published. Dickinson withdrew from social contact at the age of twenty three and devoted herself to her secret poetry writing. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10, 1830. There she spent most of her life living in the house built in 1813 by her grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson. His part in founding Amherst College in 1821 began the family tradition of public service continued by Dickinson's father Edward and her brother Austin. All men in the Dickinson family were attorneys at law and the Dickinson home was a center of Amherst society and the site of annual Amherst College initiation receptions. Growing up in a household with such domineering men took its toll on Dickinson. She wished to be a political figure like her father and brothers, but the only thing that held her back was the fact that she was a woman. Dickinson wanted to have a life of political action and public service but that too was an impossible dream. This however was a perfect drive for her to make herself known and prepared her for her life as a poet. Dickinson's mother, Emily Norcross Dickinson, was not as powerful a presence in her life; she seems not to have been as emotionally accessible as Dickinson would have liked. Her daughter is said to have characterized her as not the sort of mother "to whom you hurry...
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...- - - - - - - - - - - - - Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She died in the same place on May 15, 1886. Today people know her as a fascinating, talented writer. Most of the pieces Emily wrote were poems. Emily was a very isolated individual. She rarely ever got out or had any contact with anybody outside of her home. Along with writing her poems she wrote letters to the people that she did have contact with. In the letters that she would write there would be poems somewhere within them. Emily wrote a total of 1,775 poems in her lifetime. Even though she wrote these poems she never let it be known that she had the capability to write poems with such elegance. All of the poems that she would write she kept hidden somewhere in her room. She would hide the poems in places like her window, under her bed, in corners of the room, and lots of other places. After Emily’s death the truth would be told about her secret talent. Emily’s sister, Lavinia Dickinson found around 900 of the poems Emily had hidden in her room. Her sister decided that the poems were good enough to be published. She went to a friend of the family where she would get help in editing and publishing the poems. Lavinia’s friend, Mabel Loomis Todd and a friend of hers, Thomas Wentworth Higginson began to put a lot of Said 2 effort of getting the poems published. In the year 1890 they accomplished in getting 115 of Emily’s poems published. After...
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...Emily Dickinson spent a large portion of he life in isolation. While others concerned themselves with "normal" daily activities, Emily was content to confine herself to her house, her garden, and her poetry. Due to her uncommon lifestyle, she was considered odd and was never respected as the great poet she is now recognized as. Living life as an outsider, her poems are written from a perspective we are not used to seeing in our popular culture. Even so, her works contain such themes as human nature/behavior, independence, the meaning of life, and optimism in a grim world. After reading and studying Emily Dickinson's works I have noticed many similarities between her beliefs and mine. I believe that most people would have to agree she was far more intelligent than anybody would have even considered and that one comes to understand our world better after contemplating her works. The most numerous type of poem that Dickinson wrote was that which dealt with human nature. In "Success is counted Sweetest," she points out that the people who can truly enjoy success are those who have felt the pain of failure. Most of the pleasure of success comes from subconsciously knowing that since you have succeeded you don't have to feel the pain of failure. Throughout my life, especially in regard to athletics, I have won many times in big situations and lost many times in big situations. Every time I've won, without really thinking about what I was doing, and only for a very brief time, I've...
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...Emily Dickinson “Because I could not stop for Death-” and “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” Emily Dickinson has a very intriguing manner of writing. Exploring her poems, I realize she conveys her own obsession with demise. Many of her writings on this subject depict death in different ways. It is represented as a gentle metaphor or as a hopeless distraction. Dickinson portrays these contrasting views of death in her poems: “Because I could not stop for Death” and “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died.” Kreidler, Michele L. "Emily Dickinson "Because I Could Not Stop For Death." Literary Contexts In Poetry: Emily Dickinson's 'Because I Could Not Stop For Death' (2009): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 29 May 2014. Meyer, Michael. "The Study of Emily Dickinson." The compact Bedford introduction to literature: reading, thinking, writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. . Print Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death,” follows a woman’s passage from expiry into eternal life. The carriage that picks her up is a representation of immortality, while death is embodied as a gentleman that is taking a friend on a carriage ride. The driver “knew no haste” as they slowly drove. This personified version of death is kind and peaceful. As they continue on their trip, it is understood that death is a normal part of existence as they ride passed ordinary events of being; students playing, beautiful fields, and the setting sun. The conclusion of the poem...
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...Victoria Tuck October 28, 2014 04.03B Emily Dickinson “I Never Saw A Moor” 1. What is the contrast that the poet establishes between the first and second halves of this poem? The contrast the poet establishes between the first and second halves of the poem is seeing a moor and speaking with God. “A word is Dead” 2. Explain what the poet means when she says the word “lives” once it has spoken. When the poet says the word “lives,” she is stating that the word brings it to life. “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” – Analyzing Details 3. What kind of person is Death? How does the poet characterize him? Death is characterized as being kind and immortal. He is a civilized and polite person. The poet describes his “civility” and how he “kindly” stopped her since he drives the carriage. 4. What does the “house” in stanza #5 symbolize? The house in stanza five symbolizes a grave or death. Much like a person almost dead, they are just lying in their bed. 5. Readers often have different opinions about the final stanza of the poem. Some believe it holds a tone of terror, while others think it expresses confidence and acceptance. What do you think? Explain your answer. The poet does not have a tone of terror here, because the inevitability of death makes life worth living. Death can be counted as a blessing when it comes to an immortal life on Earth that would be a curse. 6. Choose one of Dickinson’s poems and explain how you think it reflects the time period in...
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...Emily Dickinson’s feelings towards death in the poem “Because I could not stop for Death” Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death” shows how the speaker is unfearful towards death. The poem consists of twenty-four lines, and six stanzas. She outlines how the death in the poem was in three stages: the car ride, the scenes, and the home. This is significant because the speaker shows the slow progression of her death and how it relates to an outline of her life. Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death” shows her feelings of calmness and un-fearfulness towards death. The car ride symbolizes the beginning of the speaker’s death, and is the first setting of the poem. The death was announced in a carriage. “He...
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...Born December 10, 1830 to a wealthy family in Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson was a bright young girl who was beloved by all throughout her community. She received the highest of marks at Amherst Academy and showed a promising academic future. Upon completing her schooling at the academy, at the age of 15, Dickinson enrolled at the Mount Holyoke female seminary to achieve her educational ambition. She studied there for only one year, after finding herself conflicted with the strict Christian teachings. However, Dickinson would not give up on her intellectual abilities. Entering a life of seclusion, away from the eyes of the Christian community, Dickinson would go on to write some of the greatest poetry of American literature. It is through these masterpieces that we can gain a glimpse into the world of Emily Dickinson, and better understand the extent of her seclusion and the reasons why during a time that was heavily dominated by Christian belief. The first example given to us by Dickinson is entitled, “340” or “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain”. With an opening line such as that, immediately the reader can infer from this that the author losing a part of herself. In the first stanza, the speaker can, “feel a funeral, in her brain” prompting the reader to think perhaps a part of her has died. Reading the second stanza, “My Mind was going numb-” also brings forth the idea that she is losing touch with a certain aspect of her mind. Within the third stanza, the line, “Then...
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...setting for a writer? Emily Dickinson seemed to think so as it is well known that she spent much of her life in isolation from society. In her poem “I dwell in Possibility” a comparison is made between the house of poetry and the house of prose with favor towards the house of poetry. However, this comparison goes much deeper. The house of poetry actually represents Emily Dickinson’s way of life in isolation, and the house of prose represents a life in mainstream society. Dickinson uses a unique metaphor,...
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...for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence. Dickinson was a prolific private poet, choosing to publish fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems.[1] The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often utilize slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.[2] Her poems also tend to deal with themes of death and immortality, two subjects which infused her letters to friends. Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Emily's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that the breadth of Dickinson's work became apparent. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, both of whom heavily edited the content. A complete and mostly unaltered collection of her poetry became available for the first time in 1955 when The Poems of Emily Dickinson was published by scholar Thomas H. Johnson. Despite unfavorable reviews and skepticism of her literary prowess...
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...Although the poets Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were alive around the same time, they had different interpretations of death in their poems. Both of the poems, “I heard a fly buzz- when I died” from Emily Dickins and “Song of Myself” from Walt Whitman, express their disparate perspective about the theme of death. In the two poems, the poets also have diverse approaches of conveying their conception of death. Which is either optimistically or depressingly. Consequently, it accentuates the differences of the mood in both poem and style of the authors. Emily Dickinson is most famous for her gloomy poems that illustrate the concept of death. For example, her poem “I heard a fly buzz- when I died” and “After Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes”....
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...Thesis Statement Emily Dickinson’s poem “There is no Frigate like a Book” is a great example of the use of metaphor in poetry. The poem utilizes the theme of escape in describing how a book can carry a person away from reality. In using these metaphors, Dickinson is able to describe in only eight lines the power of literature and poetry on a person’s life. Outline 1. Introduction a. Thesis Statement 2. Theme a. Theme of the poem b. Poem’s setting c. Significance of the title to the poem’s content or meaning d. Mood of the poem e. Narrator of the poem 3. Conclusion Emily Dickinson’s poem “There is no Frigate like a Book” is a great example of the use of metaphor in poetry. The poem utilizes the theme of escape in describing how a book can carry a person away from reality. In using these metaphors, Dickinson is able to describe in only eight lines the power of literature and poetry on a person’s life. The main theme of the poem seems to be that of escape. Escape from reality may be what the author is trying to demonstrate. Books do have a way of transporting the human mind to other places and realities. As such, it makes sense that a book, poem, or other form of literature would be an escape from a person’s present reality. The poem could be literal, but it is situational in style. It is showing the situation of escape through books. “There is no Frigate like a Book / To take us Lands away” is the opening line in Dickinson’s poem. A frigate is...
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...Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her family had deep roots in New England. Her paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was well known as the founder of Amherst College. Her father worked at Amherst and served as a state legislator. He married Emily Norcross in 1828 and the couple had three children: William Austin, Lavinia Norcross and Emily. Emily Dickinson was educated at Amherst Academy (now Amherst College) and the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. She was an excellent student, despite missing long stretches of the school year due to frequent illness and depression. Though the precise reasons for Dickinson's final departure from the academy in 1848 are unknown, it is believed that her fragile emotional state probably played a role. Writing and Influences Dickinson began writing as a teenager. Her early influences include Leonard Humphrey, principal of Amherst Academy, and a family friend named Benjamin Franklin Newton. Newton introduced Dickinson to the poetry of William Wordsworth, who also served as an inspiration to the young writer. In 1855, Dickinson ventured outside of Amherst, as far as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, she befriended a minister named Charles Wadsworth, who would become a cherished correspondent. Among her peers, Dickinson's closest friend and adviser was a woman named Susan Gilbert. In 1856, Gilbert married Dickinson's brother, William Austin Dickinson. The Dickinson family lived on a large home...
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...Emily Dickinson is one of the most well known poets of her time. Though her life was uneventful, what went on inside her house behind closed doors is unbelievable. After her father died she met Reverend Charles Wadsworth. She soon came to regard him as one of her most trusted friends, and she created in his image the lover whom she was never to know except in her imagination. It is also said that it was around 1812 when he was removed to San Francisco that she began her withdrawal from society. During this time she began to write many of her poems. She wrote mainly in private, guarding all of her poems from all but a few select friends. She did not write for fame, but instead as a way of expressing her feelings. In her lifetime only six of her poems were even printed; none of which had her consent. It was not until her death of Brights Disease in May of 1862, that many of her poems were even read (Chelsea House of Library Criticism 2837). Thus proving that the analysis on Emily Dickinson’s poetry is some of the most emotionally felt works of the nineteenth century. Miss Dickinson is often compared with other poets and writers, but unlike Shakespeare, Miss Dickinson is without opinions (Tate 86). Her verses and technical license often seem mysterious and can confuse critics, but after all is said, it is realized that like most poets Miss Dickinson is no more mysterious than a banker. It is said that Miss Dickinson’s life was starved and unfulfilled and yet all pity is misdirected...
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...A man who drives a carriage to the speaker’s grave. The arguments to support this statement are that she mentions Death as a“he”. “We slowly drove, he knew no haste” This quote also illustrates that Death doesn’t hurry so it’s okay for him to drive slowly. He just takes his time and does his job which is to drive the carriage to the grave. The speaker describes Death as a person and humanizes him instead of seeing him as a condition or a concept as others often do. The speaker personifies him as a polite man as you can see in this quote: “He kindly stopped for me”. Death is normal a negative described condition and something we don’t wish for anyone. But in this poem Death is in a way positive described as in the quote: “For his civility”. The speaker personifies death and it sounds like the speaker thinks that he’s a gentleman. Death takes the speaker to the grave and it’s described as “A swelling of the ground. The roof was scarcely visible. The cornice but a mound”. The description of the grave isn’t in words that we usually compare with a grave. The speaker uses words as: stopped, drove, passed that usually are words which are used in connection with kind of transport and in this case it’s a carriage. Most people see Death as a negative condition which gives sadness and grief, but in this poem the journey to the grave is calm and in a way a positive experience. The poem is written many years ago where people had a different view of Death...
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...“I dwell in Possibility” by Emily Dickinson is a poem about all the opportunity poetry obtains. Throughout this poem, Dickinson elaborately compares poetry to an elegant house. It is noted that Dickinson is comparing the house to poetry in the second line where she stated “A fairer House than Prose” in which prose means the opposite of poetry. She states that she dwells in possibility meaning that she lives in all the possibility poetry has. The house has many windows which symbolizes the many visions and viewpoints that poems may acquire. She then goes off and talks about all the rooms the house has which shows the endless options and freedom there is. The house cannot be seen by eye, which helps support the idea of poetry being represented...
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