Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

1. Emily Dickinson(1830-1886)

3. The Hidden Poet Dickinson was virtually unknown as a poet during her lifetime, but now, along with Whitman, is considered the most important American poet of the 19th century.She wrote at least 1,789poems, but only a handful were published while she was living.

4. Influences: • Puritanism(severity, sin, temptation plus form of hymns) • Romanticism (nature, writing beyond rational thought, spontaneity) • Transcendentalism(deep connection with nature and philosophy) • Isolationexcept for a close circle of family and friends (in contrast with Whitman)…possibly Agoraphobic? • Ultimate context is actually herself and her mind; her poems, in fact, feel timeless.

5. Isolated, but not alone Emily’s older brother, Austin (Married Emily’s best friend and lived next door) Emily’s younger sister, Lavinia (encouraged the posthumous editing and publishing of Emily’s poetry) Emily’s father, Edward (Politically prominent, married to Emily Norcross Dickinson)

6. Chronology of her Life… • 1830: Emily Dickinson is born in Amherst, MA • 1840-47: Emily attends Amherst Academy & Mt. Holyoke Seminary (1 yr.) • 1858-65: Emily’s period of greatest poetic production • 1878-84: Emily considers marriage to Otis Phillips Lord • 1883: Emily leaves home for the first time in 15 years • 1886: Emily dies • 1890: First edition of Emily’s poems is published

7. “The Homestead” in Amherst, MA Where Dickinson was born, lived the majority of her life, and died.

8. One of Dickinson’s handwritten poems

9. Poetic Style • Her poetry is immediately recognizable with its use of ballad and hymn meter (musical qualities- in fact, many, like the next poem, can be sung to the Gilligan’s Island theme song!),extensive use of dashes, and unconventional capitalization • Non-conventional use of vocabulary and imagery also add to her ground-breaking style • Forceful language and imprecise rhymes are at times shocking and dissonant

10. Iambic trimeter • (sometimes expanded) • Loose ABCB scheme • Rhythmic flow broken • with long dashes • Overriding metaphor • Religious overtones • Nature! “Hope” is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul— And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all— And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard— And sore must be the storm— That could abash the little Bird— That kept so many warm— I’ve heard it in the chillest land— And on the strangest Sea— Yet, never, in Extremity, It asked a crumb—of Me. How does this interesting symbol of hope- a bird- capture it in a “true” and new way?

11. At first received favorably, but then came the criticism… • Thomas Bailey Aldrich (poet/editor) published an influential negative review anonymously in the January 1892Atlantic Monthly: “It is plain that Miss Dickinson possessed an extremely unconventional and grotesque fancy. She was deeply tinged by the mysticism of Blake, and strongly influenced by the mannerism of Emerson....But the incoherence and formlessness of her — [poems] are fatal....[A]n eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse in an out-of-the-way New England village (or anywhere else) cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar.”

12. But then time caught up with this rule-breaker… • As Modernism became popular in the 20th century, Dickinson’s poetry was rediscovered and celebrated as far ahead of its time. • A new wave of feminism also brought her much deserved attention as a great, ground-breaking poet. • She and Whitman are now considered to be the greatest American poets of the mid to late 19th century. Think about their similarities amid the obvious differences…

13. The End