Emily Dickinson Blog Post

by Victoria W.

Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts in December of 1830.  She was raised as a “Victorian girl” and educated as such (Farr 1).  In their teenage years her sister, Lavinia, and herself pursued their education in former boy’s school, Amherst Academy (Sewall 337). Education and the pursuit of knowledge was a vital aspect to Dickinson’s life from an early age. After attending Amherst Academy and then a short stint Mary Lyon’s Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, she returned home without a clear reason. Her return home occurred in the late 1840’s and lasted for the remainder of her life. She became a recluse, and physically isolated herself. She began dedicating her time at home to maintaining written correspondences with friends and pursuing her studies, including reading a great deal of literature. Some of the literature that proved significant in her early years as a writer include, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry s well as Ralph Waldo Emerson’s first book of collected poems. The metaphysical poets of the 17^th century England proved most influential on her work and as she said “touched the secret Spring”, referring to an awakening of her inner poet (Habeggar 221). She was also influenced by religious texts, often ones leaning towards a Calvinist, conservative Christian outlook (Academy of American Poets). These influences can be observed in her texts such as the religious undertones and metaphors in 475 [488]. Her influence from Emerson has been analyzed as “ broadly refer[ing] to the general and looming concern with autonomy and individualism”, a central concern too much of Emerson’s work (Shira Wolosky 35). The conflict between self and society is seen through out Dickinson’s poems, similar to much of Emerson’s work.

Beyond the influence of published writings Dickinson relied heavily on her correspondence for inspiration both poetically and in thought. “The correspondents could speak their minds outside the formulas of parlor conversation”, this free flow of ideas and opinions stimulated Dickinson’s mind and encouraged her to explore her innermost opinions and as she did this it became exposed though her poetry. She valued her friends as a central aspect of her life and even commented, “My friends are my ‘estate’” (Poetry Foundation). The correspondences Dickinson kept allowed her to grow as a poet and forced her to question the things often so easily defined, these topics include such things as life and death. The years of Dickinson’s isolation gave way to greater personal growth; intellectually, this is time in which she explored personal questions and troubles as well as evaluating the world around her and her place in it, as represented through her poetry.

 

Bibliography:

Dickinson, Emily. “475 [488].” The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Volume B, Ninth Edition. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2012.

“Emily Dickinson.” Poets.org. The Academy of American Poets, 2013. Web. 1 Sept. 2013.

“Emily Dickinson.” Poeryfoundation.org. The Poetry Foundation, 2013. Web. 31 Aug. 2013.

Farr, Judith. The Passion of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992. Print.

Habeggar, Alfred. My Wars Are Laid in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. Modern Library, 2002. Print.

Wolosky, Shira. “Dickinson’s Emerson: A Critique of American Identity.” 9.2

Emily Dickinson Blog Post

by Brendan M.

When looking at the poetry of Emily Dickinson, it is very important to look at the Civil War and it’s effect it had on Ms. Dickinson. The Civil War was the bloodiest era America had seen, and it was also the time that Emily Dickinson wrote an enormous amount of her work (Taggart 76). The severity of the war and the new weapon technology that allowed for faster and more brutal combat made Dickinson consider issues of liberty, life, and death in ways that she never had done so previously (Martin 34). Looking at two of her poems from this period, it is easy to see the issue of death being presented. In the poem titled “320” Dickinson ends her poem with the word death, and in the poem titled “407” death and ghost like images are presented throughout the poems entirety.

The impact of the Civil War on Emily Dickinson seems to be apparent with the subject matter of her poems at that time, but many theorist believe that other events happening at the time also might have been effecting Emily in ways that inspired her to write such a large amount of her work. From 1861 to 1865 Ms. Dickinson wrote approximately half of her 1,800 existing poems. In 1862 Ms. Dickinson wrote an average of one completely finished poem a day and many of these poems were considered to be her best work (Kirk 77). This enormous amount of poetry leaves many scholars wondering what besides the Civil War had such an effect on Ms. Dickinson to cause her to write such a large amount of her work and some of her most passionate work. The most advanced and what many people consider believable theory is that the sudden influx of passionate work came after she experienced a failed love affair. There are many possible candidates who could have been her possible lover, but unfortunately there is no hard evidence that supports any of the men being the one she had an affair with (Kirk 78). Emily Dickinson is one of the greatest American poets to have ever lived, and even though she has been and continues to be studied, there is still so much about her that remains a mystery including the reasons for so much of her work being written in the years of the Civil War.

 

Bibliography

Dickinson, Emily. “320” and “407.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Volume B, Ninth Edition. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2012.

Kirk, Connie Ann. Emily Dickinson: A Biography. Westport Ct: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004.

Martin, Wendy. The Cambridge Introduction to Emily Dickinson. United Kingdom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Taggard, Genevieve. The Life and Mind of Emily Dickinson. New York, NY: Cooper Square Publishers Inc. 1967.