emily dickinson - romantic poet
TRANSCRIPT
This is my letter to the world, That never wrote to me,-- The simple news that Nature told, With tender majesty. Her message is committed To hands I cannot see; For love of her, sweet countrymen, Judge tenderly of me!
Emily Dickinson
Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonThe Belle of
Amherst
Emily was born… Emily Elizabeth Dickinson on December 10, 1830
to a very prominent family in Amherst, MA Second child to Elizabeth Norcross Dickinson and
Edward Dickinson (Yale grad, lawyer, Congressman)
Granddaughter to Samuel Fowler Dickinson (one of the founders of Amherst College and builder of the National Historic Landmark “The Homestead”, Emily’s home)
Edward and Elizabeth Norcross Dickinson
Emily had… An older brother named William Austin (Austin)
and a younger sister Lavinia Norcross (Vinnie)
Emily attended… Amherst Academy from 1840-1847 Left for Mount Holyoke Female Seminary at
the age of 17 Returned home 10 months later from either
homesickness, illness, or her refusal to publicly announce her faith
At home, Emily… Baked for her family Took place in household activities Ventured out to attend local events in the
budding college town Was an avid gardener
Emily stayed close to home.. Besides one big trip to D.C. and Philly in 1855 When her mother became chronically ill, Emily
would barely leave “The Homestead” to be near her
In 1858, she began to write clean copies of her work
Forty bundles comprising nearly eight hundred poems – but no one knew of these until after her death
The manuscript of her poem “Wild Nights – Wild Nights!”
A family friend… Samuel Bowles published some of Emily’s
poems from 1858-1868 in his Springfield Republican
They were anonymous and heavily edited They included: “A narrow Fellow in the
Grass” as “The Snake”, and “Nobody knows this little rose”
In 1862… Emily answered a call for poetry
submissions in The Atlantic Monthly from Thomas Wentworth Higginson
He told her to delay publishing, but they became close friends, as he provided great moral support
Emily once told him he saved her life in 1862
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
In 1864… Several of Emily’s poems were published in
Drum Beat to raise money for wounded Union soldiers during the Civil War and
Another was published that year in the Brooklyn Daily Union
Emily made a trip to Boston… In 1865, which would be her last venture from
Amherst She rarely even left “The Homestead” She became known as the Myth because she
was rarely seen Also The Lady in White because she was
always wearing white when she was seen As early as 1867, she began to talk to her
visitors from behind closed doors
Despite her seclusion… Emily was socially active and expressive
through her letters and poems Though she would leave when visitors
came, she would write them poems or give them small gifts
However, she met Higginson in her home in 1870
In 1874… Emily’s father suffered a stroke and died—she
only opened her door a crack for the funeral, and did not attend memorial service
A year later, her mother suffered a stroke, and was left in bad physical and mental state
Around this time, Emily stopped going out in public, but still had visitors and wrote to close friends
In the 1878… Helen Hunt Jackson convinced Emily to
publish “Success is counted sweetest” anonymously in A Masque of Poets
This was the last poem published in her lifetime
In the summer of 1884… Emily fainted while baking, which led to weeks of
ill health On November 30, 1885, her brother cancelled a
trip to Boston because she was confined to bed and worried him
She wrote a burst of letters the following spring, including one thought to be her last to her cousins, “Little Cousins, Called Back. Emily”
On May 15, 1886… Emily died at the age of 55 of Bright’s
Disease Her coffin was carried through daffodils,
and Higginson read “No Coward Soul is Mine” by Emily Bronte, Emily’s favorite poem
She was buried at West Cemetery on Triangle Street in Amherst
Lavinia promised… That she would burn Emily’s
correspondence after her death No instructions were left regarding the forty
notebooks and loose sheets Emily left in her chest
Vinnie sought to have them published
Poems was published in 1890…
Poems: Second Series was published in 1891…
In 1894… Two volumes of Emily’s letters, highly edited,
appeared Susan Dickinson (Austin’s wife) published some
poems in literary magazines, such as Scribner’s Magazine and The Independent
Martha Dickenson Bianchi (Emily’s niece) published a series of collections between 1914 and 1929
Other volumes followed throughout the 1930s
Poems: Third Series was published in 1896…
In 1960… The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
was published by Thomas H. Johnson It contained all 1,775 of her poems—all
unedited Various books of her poems and letters
have been published since
Emily is known for… Unconventional broken
rhyming meter The use of dashes Random capitalization Use of metaphor Varied line lengths No titles Various genres
Emily Dickinson is… Considered one of the most original poets of the
19th century Placed alongside such poets as Walt Whitman
and Robert Frost Taught in grade school, high school and college A powerful and persistent figure of American
culture Heralded as the greatest woman poet in the
English language
Works Consulted “Emily Dickinson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 12 July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Dickinson
“Emily Dickinson.” The Literature Network. 12 July 2008 http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/
Pictures Slide # 3: Emily in black dress from
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=62015&rendTypeId=4 Slide # 5: Emily’s parents from
http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biod2/dick4/dick2.jpg and http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biod2/dick4/dick3.jpg
Slide # 6: Emily and siblings from http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biod2/dick4/dick1.jpg
Slide # 10: “Wild Nights – Wild Nights!” from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Emily_Dickinson_%22Wild_nights%22_manuscript.jpg/180px-Emily_Dickinson_%22Wild_nights%22_manuscript.jpg
Slide # 12: The Republican from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Emilyrepublican.jpg/180px-Emilyrepublican.jpg
Slide # 14: Higginson from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a2/Thomas_Wentworth_Higginson.jpg/180px-Thomas_Wentworth_Higginson.jpg
Pictures (Cont’d) Slide # 23: Poems from
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Emily_Dickinson_Poems_%281890%29.djvu/page1-300px-Emily_Dickinson_Poems_%281890%29.djvu.jpg
Slide # 24: Poems: Second Series from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Emily_Dickinson_Poems_%281890%29.djvu/page1-300px-Emily_Dickinson_Poems_%281890%29.djvu.jpg
Slide # 25: Poems: Third Series from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Emily_Dickinson_Poems_-_third_series_%281896%29.djvu/page1-381px-Emily_Dickinson_Poems_-_third_series_%281896%29.djvu.jpg
Slide # 28: “Rowing in Eden” from http://www.emilydickinson.org/resources/smith_rowing/p68image.jpg
Slide # 30: Emily sitting from http://www.writespirit.net/authors/emily_dickinson/Emily%20Dickinson.JPG