Emily Dickinson 1830-1886

Born in 1830 (second of three children) in Amherst, Massachusetts Father: a lawyer, wealthy and respected citizens, trustee of Amherst College

Dickinson grew up regularly attending services at the First Congregational Church Eventually stopped attending regularly

Attended Amherst Academy, where she studied a “modern” curriculum…

She attended Mount Holyoke Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) – then as now an innovative school for women

Around 1850, she began to write poems, which she circulated among friends Her poem “Sic transit gloria mundi” was published in the Springfield Daily Republican in 1852

During the 1860’s, she stopped socializing and became a recluse, staying in the family home

We don’t know why she withdrew from friends and society Some speculate that the death of her dog (“Carlo” a Newfoundland – a gift from her father) had something to do with it…

Among her remaining intimates was her sister-in-law, Susan – wife of her older brother Austin

She began corresponding with a local intellectual, Thomas Wentworth Higginson

Higginson became a kind of mentor, a relationship that continued for the rest of her life After her death, Higginson helped to publish the first edition of her work Dickinson wrote more than 1,700 poems Only eight were published during her lifetime

Dickinson spent most of her time reading and writing poetry She called writing poetry her “business” She copied many of her poems into hand-sewn small booklets or “fascicles” and sent them as gifts to family and friends

According to tradition, Dickinson dressed entirely in white and communicated only indirectly with visitors and friends, from behind a folding screen or via notes and gifts in a basket she let down from her window into the garden

When Dickinson died in 1886 of Bright’s disease, her family was surprised at the amount of work she left behind Her sister Lavinia found 40 notebooks and loose poems in a locked box in her bedroom

Lavinia (“Vinnie”) asked sister-in-law Susan to edit the poems for publication When Susan seemed to procrastinate the project, Lavinia turned to another family friend, Mabel Loomis Todd

A little scandal: it later turned out that Mabel Todd had been having a secret affair with Austin Dickinson – for some 13 years

Mabel Todd and Thomas Higginson together undertook the first publication of Emily Dickinson’s poems

Higginson edited and “corrected” her poems for punctuation and conventional usage It was not until 1955 that Dickinson’s work was collected and published – in its original form – by Thomas Johnson

“Corrected” version: from “Because I could not stop for Death” We passed the school where children played Their lessons scarcely done; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun.

Original version: We passed the School, where Children strove At recess—in the Ring— We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain— We passed the Setting Sun—

Characteristics of Dickinson’s Poems Rhythm mirrors church hymns Idiosyncratic punctuation, often using dashes for pauses and emphasis Capitalization emphasizes key words, sometimes indicates abstractions

Dickinson’s approximate rhymes EYE rhyme (though / through) VOWEL rhyme (see / buy) SLANT (or HALF) rhyme (bear / boar)

Dickinson’s themes Her own identity / status Personal interactions with nature Inner spirituality as distinct from religion Pain Ecstasy (encounters with the sublime) Death (in particular, the process of transition)