1830 - 1886

Her legacyDickinson is bracketed with Walt Whitman as

having all but invented American poetry.She felt no urge to read him, however, telling

a friend, “I never read his book. . . but was told that he was disgraceful.”

William Carlos Williams called Dickinson his “patron saint.”

Her poetryFilled with questions and riddles.She did not write for publication.Only ten of her nearly 1800 poems were

published during her lifetime.Poetry reflects Protestant upbringing – using

the hymnology and biblical imagery.Uses the dash (possibly for fragmentation

and great stress). Her poetry is not constrained by form.

Feminist CritiquesDefiance of literary and social authority has

appealed to feminist critics.She is placed in the company of Anne

Bradstreet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sylvia Plath, and Adrienne Rich.

Her lifeBorn on December 10, 1830 in Amherst,

Massachusetts.Daughter of a respected lawyer and, at one

time, a member of congress.Father was an imposing figure; upon his

death in 1874, she wrote, “His heart was pure and terrible, and I think no other like it exists.”

She listened to his funeral service from an upstairs bedroom.

Her lifeAll the Dickinson men were attorneys with

political ambitions. In an 1852 letter written to one of her close

friends, Dickinson shows the effect of growing up in a household of dominant males: “Why can’t I be a Delegate to the great Whig convention? Don’t I know all about Daniel Webster and the Tarriff and the Law?”

ContemporariesThough she had not read Whitman, she was

well versed in other contemporary poets and authors (Keats, Emerson, Brontes).

This is evidenced by her discussions with friends through letters.

School Graduated from Amherst Academy when she was

seventeen.In her brother’s words, “She dazzled her teachers .

. .”She entered into a female seminary next (only a

few miles from Amherst).She returned home after less than a year, having

resisted the pressure to become a professing Christian.

In a letter to a friend, she shares these sentiments: “Christ is calling everyone here, all my companions have answered . . .and I am standing alone in rebellion.”

Withdrawing from the PublicIn the sixties, she increasingly withdrew from

the public. She wore all white, and she dedicated much

of her time to writing.She gathered fair copies of 1147 poems, and

put 833 of them in individual packets.

DebateContinuing debate: in what ways should

Dickinson’s writing appear in print?Respect to punctuation, use of variants, and

lineation have a major influence on how her poems are read and understood.

Her first editors tidied up some of her roughness.

In 1955, all of her texts were reproduced without editorial changes.

Works Cited“Emily Dickinson.” The Norton Anthology of

Modern and Contemporary Poetry. Third Edition. 2003. Print.

The Oxford Companion to Women’s Writing in the United States. Oxford University Press Inc. 1995.