…Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
Emily
Elizabeth Dickinson
Emily
Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts.
She had an older brother, William, and a younger sister, Lavinia. "The New
England Mystic," as she was sometimes called, spent most of her life at
the family home in the middle of town. She was educated at Amherst Academy and
Mount Holyoke College which was then a female seminary. Her grandfather was a
founder of Amherst College, and her father was a respected member of the
community who served for one term in the U.S. Congress.
It
is impossible to study American poetry and not include a thorough reading of
Emily Dickinson. However, for more than sixty years after her death, her words
of love for Kate Scott and Sue Gilbert were squelched by her family.
Emily
Dickinson's Poem Drawer
Dickinson
wrote more than 1800 poems, the majority of which were not discovered until
after her death when her sister found the neatly organized collection in a
dresser drawer. All but 24 of her works are untitled, and only ten were
published in her lifetime. She is considered one of America's finest poets.
Laurels - for rare degree
Of soul or sword.
Ah - but remembering me -
Ah - but remembering thee -
Nature in chivalry -
Nature in charity -
Nature in equity -
The Rose ordained!"
- - - E.D.
After
her death, Dickinson's family began publishing edited and corrected excerpts of
her work. The original versions of her manuscripts were not fully published
until 1955.
The
Censored Writings of Emily Dickinson
Dickinson
wrote passionate letters to her sister-in-law, Sue Gilbert, that some historians
describe as simply representative of the writing style of the Victorian era.
Others, including Dickinson's biographer Rebecca Patterson, saw the letters as
evidence of the writer's homosexuality.
What
is known for a fact is that Gilbert's daughter, Martha Dickinson Bianchi,
edited the letters that her famous aunt wrote to her mother before she allowed
them to be published. Much of Dickinson's personal correspondence was burned by
her sister and other family members. A few remaining pieces of Dickinson's
personal letters were published in 1951 by Patterson.
Emily Dickinson
Edited version by Bianchi
Most
of Emily Dickinson's private life remains a mystery but her poems are
frequently subject for interpretations with Sapphic undertones. Just what
Martha feared.
But I was not a `Diver' -
Her brow is fit for thrones
But I have not a crest.
Her heart is fit for home -
I - a Sparrow - build there
Sweet twigs and twine
My perennial nest. "
- - - E. D.
The
Nun of Amherst
Dickinson
suffered a nervous breakdown in 1862, ending the most creative and artistically
prolific period of her life. Dickinson gained the nick name "Nun of
Amherst" from her years of seclusion following her father's death in 1874.
During the final years of her life she tended her garden, baked for family and
friends, and almost never left the house.
He kindly stopped for me--
The Carriage held but just Ourselves--
and Immortality. "
- - - E. D.
Emily
Dickinson died on May 15, 1886.
Learn
More About Emily Dickinson
- Visit the Emily Dickinson
International Society.
- Read the book "The
Riddle of Emily Dickinson" by Rebecca Patterson, 1951.
- Try her Black Cake
Recipe.
- See a production of "The
Belle of Amherst" - a play based on her life and poems.
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