Her Simple Life Yielded a Prevailing Art
Emily Dickinson at a Glance
Category: File - :Black-white photograph of Emily Dickinson2.jpg|thumb|200px|From the daguerreotype taken at Mount Holyoke, December 1846 or early 1847. The only authenticated portrait of Emily Dickinson later than childhood, the original is held by the Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College.D'Arienzo (2006)
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 ? May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in...
Featured Dickinson Poem
Not death; for who is he?
The porter of my father's lodge
As much abasheth me.
Of life? 'T were odd I fear a thing
That comprehendeth me
In one or more existences
At Deity's decree.
Of resurrection? Is the east
Afraid to trust the morn
With her fastidious forehead?
As soon impeach my crown!
A Quick Guide to Understanding Dickinson's Grammar
First of all, she writes in a very metaphorical language, so the picture she describes is often representative of a deeper truth and a bigger picture. She often does this in a very tight package, using a minimalist amount of words to paint this very large abstract picture. A reader who can take her exact description and paint the mental picture in the mind's eye will be most ready to fully understand Dickinson's word art.
Another thing you must be aware of is that her writing loosely follows that of the biblical psalms and proverbs. I say loosely because she interrupts the rhythm of the poem with odd grammatical structures, like her characteristic dashes and odd capitalization patterns. She uses these to break the regular meter long enough for the reader to notice the subtle emphasis she places on unexpected words or phrases. By spotlighting a certain word or phrase, she is able to paint a more vivid picture with fewer words.
For a more thorough reference to understanding this literary genius, check out Decoding Dickinson: A Reader's Guide to Analyzing the Classic Poet.
Dickinson Resources- Vote for your favorite!
The Poetry of Emily Dickinson. Complete Poems of 1924. Bartleby.com
The Poetry of Emily Dickinson. Complete Poems of 1 more...0 points
Emily Dickinson - Biography and Works
Emily Dickinson. Biography of Emily Dickinson and more...0 points
Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More - Emily Dickinson
The Academy of American Poets presents a biography more...0 points
Emily Dickinson International Society
Official web site of the Emily Dickinson Internati more...0 points
Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts more...0 points
Emily Dickinson: Links, bibliographies, and information
Emily Dickinson, bibliography, notes, and links to more...0 points
Dickinson Electronic Archives
The Dickinson Electronic Archives is dedicated to more...0 points
Emily Dickinson Museum
Consists of two historic houses in the center of A more...0 points
Great Emily Dickinson stuff from Amazon
Quick, what do you think of Emily Dickinson?
Emily Dickinson on Flickr
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Vote for your favorite Emily Dickinson stuff
Dickinson's Misery: A Theory of Lyric Reading by Virginia Jackson
How do we know that Emily Dickinson wrote poems? H more...1 point
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson proved that brevity can be beautif more...0 points
The Life of Emily Dickinson by Richard B. Sewall
Winner of the National Book Award, this massively more...0 points
Open Me Carefully: Emily Dickinson's Intimate Letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson by Emily Dickinson, Ellen Louise Hart, Martha Nell Smith
Emily Dickinson is a figure of intense contradicti more...0 points
Dickinson's Misery: A Theory of Lyric Reading by Virginia Jackson
How do we know that Emily Dickinson wrote poems? H more...0 points
The Passion of Emily Dickinson by Judith Farr
"How tame and manageable are the emotions of more...0 points
The Dickinsons of Amherst
Jerome Liebling, one of our foremost documentary p more...0 points
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Shout Out For Emily Dickenson!
Share your stories, sightings, thoughts, rants, raves...
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- LoKackl LoKackl Jul 25, 2009 @ 1:27 pm
- Good Show! I often include a poem of Dickinson's on my lenses. Nice to meet another Dickinsonian!
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- Ecolicious Ecolicious Jul 6, 2009 @ 1:29 pm
- I agree she was a gifted poet.
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- confetta confetta Jul 15, 2008 @ 7:53 pm
- GREAT LENS!
I LOVE the FEATURED POEM.
I hope you will add this lens to the POETRY GROUP...
There is a quote by her at the very top of the Group Page ; )
http://www.squidoo.com/groups/furlight
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- NAIZA NAIZA Jun 17, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
- Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite writer! Fantastic lens about her. I enjoyed reading it and learning much more about her. Definitely, a fabulous five!
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- cappuccino136 cappuccino136 May 29, 2008 @ 3:14 pm
- Great lens with lots of good information and resources. I love Emily's poetry. She is also a fascinating and mercurial character.
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- flowski flowski Apr 17, 2008 @ 9:08 pm
- Nice look at Emily Dickenson, her poetry is beautiful. Thanks!
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- tdove tdove Apr 16, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
- Thanks for joining G Rated Lense Factory!
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- GypsyPirate GypsyPirate Mar 24, 2008 @ 11:53 am
- Emily Dickinson was indeed a wonderful and gifted poet. I'm glad I found this lens in The Phenomenal Women Group!
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