Emily Dickinson

1. Emily Dickinson 06英本7, Group 4 陈静 范明霞 李宝凤 姚莉 张欣 • Life • Poetry

2. Life • born Dec.10,1830 Calvinist family of Amherst, Massachusetts. 2nd • prominent family • father --- Edward (authoritative) • Whig lawyer • treasurer of the Amherst College and Congressman • normal and vivacious girlhood • didn’t enjoy the popularity and excitement of public life in Amherst withdraw

3. Emily did not fit in with her father's religion in Amherst, and her father began to censor the books she read because of their potential to draw her away from the faith. • the Bible • Shakespeare greatly influenced • Keats. etc

4. Education • Being the daughter of a prominent politician, Emily had the benefit of a good education and attended the Amherst Academy. (2 years) • South Hadley Female Seminary(1 year) • (currently Mount Holyoke College) • she started to blossom into a delicate young woman • The school was strongly congregational, but Emily refused to observe its religious customs • In 1848 return to Amherst where she began her life of seclusion

5. She stayed almost all her life in her family’s property. • Dressed in white, she refusing to see almost everyone that came to visit • Hobbies ---- garden, poetry • Trips • Philadelphia (eye problems) 1855 • Washington D.C. 1855 • Boston,1864 • Other than those occasional ventures, Emily had no extended exposure to the world outside her home town. • During this time, her early twenties, Emily began to write poetry seriously.

6. Important peoplesources of inspiration and guidance • Charles Wadsworth • Thomas Wentworth Higginson • others

7. Clergyman, age 41, trip to Philadelphia Dearest earthly friend Religious belief and presumptions influenced Emily Emily had a great love for him, though he was married Critics believe that Wadsworth was the focal point of Emily’s love poems Charles Wadsworth

8. Thomas Wentworth Higginson • Editor and Colonel • Dickinson initiated a correspondence with him in April 1862 that turned into one of the mainstays of her writing life. • He corresponded with Emily Dickinson for nearly 25 years. (1823-1911)

9. The later years of her life---in mourning • father died in 1874 • mother died in 1882, as did Wadsworth • Her beloved nephew Gilbert in 1883 • Many friends passed away Death in her poetry • June 14,1884 the first attack of her terminal illness • May 15,1886 died, age 56

11. Poetry • 1775 poems, 7 appeared in print in her lifetime • Discovered by her sister, requested Thomas Wentworth Higginson to edit them • A volume of 115 poems,1890 • Two more volumes of poetry and two volumes of letters came out later • 1914 saw more Dickinson poems coming to light • 1955, the complete works of the poet was published • She died in 19th century, but was ‘rediscovered’ in 20th century

12. Themes of poetry • Death and immortality • The center, the largest portion • Nature, Love, Friends • Emphasize free will and human responsibility • Etc.

13. Characteristic • Focus on her world • a clear illustration of her religious-ethical and political-social ideas • Original and innovative, most often drawing on the Bible, classical mythology, and Shakespeare for allusions and references. • Concise, direct, simple diction and syntax • Derailment of the proper grammar （full of grammatically wrong structures） • Many were not completed and written on scraps of paper

14. Representative works • My life closed twice before its close • Over the fence • My life had stood--- a loaded gun, • I heard a fly buzz—when I died, • Tell all the truth but tell it slant, • I died for beauty—but was scare, • The Soul selects her own Society, • Much Madness is divinest Sense, • This is my letter to the World, • I would not paint — a picture .

15. Thank you