Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

1830 - 1886 *

American whose poetry deals with universal themes in a profoundly original manner.

Emily Dickinson's high-spirited youth came to an end when she reached the age of 30; she became reclusive and her only contact with the outside world was through whimsical letters to her friends.

She attributed this reclusive life to a romantic disappointment. Regardless of the reasons, Dickinson wrote highly original and remarkable verse during this period. Of some 1800 poems, only seven were ever published during her lifetime.

Dickinson's poetry dealt with the universal themes such as death, immortality and love. Critics have often compared her work to that of William Blake.

          Source: Classics Network Editorial Team

American lyrical poet, an obsessively private writer - only seven of her some 1800 poems were published during her lifetime, five of them in the Springfield Republican. Dickinson withdrew from social contact at the age of 23 and devoted herself in secret into writing. I felt a Cleaving in my Mind -
As if my Brain had split -
I tried to match it - Seam by Seam -
But could not make them fit.
The thought behind, I strove to join
Unto the thought before -
But Sequence ravelled out of Sound
Like Balls - upon a Floor.
Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massa... [read entire biography]

          Source: Public Domain

These essays offer analysis of the author's life and works. Many of them have been submitted by users, and are assigned an Editorial Rating on a scale from one to five stars to assist you in evaluating their worth. See also: Note on Essays, Editorial Policy.

     

Emily Dickinson’s Challenge to the World: Edit This -- An analysis and comparison of the editing of Emily Dickinson's work, including a discussion of the various unique grammatical and figurative licenses she used.
By Virginia Crowe, High School Student	Editorial Rating:

Insights Into the Life of Emily Dickinson through Her Letters to Susan Gilbert Dickinson -- Through her letters to Susan, Dickinson reveals facets of her life, and shows insights into her relationship with Susan
By Sarah Watson, Student	Editorial Rating:

     

Miscellaneous

		Bartleby.com - Dickinson -- excellent online texts of Dickinson's poems and an eyclopedia-style article http://www.bartleby.com/people/DickinsoE... Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 776 5 users have rated it an average of 2.6 stars     [rate it] Emily Dickinson Page -- a well-organised "repository of links to information about" Dickinson http://www.geocities.com/edickinson2002/ Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 1104 3 users have rated it an average of 5 stars     [rate it] Emily Dickinson Random Epigram Machine -- each time you reload the page, a different epigram from Dickinson appears http://www.logopoeia.com/ed/ Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 350 2 users have rated it an average of 3.5 stars     [rate it] Literary Traveler - The Dickinson Homestead -- this article presents some information on the poet's life in the context of her home town http://www.literarytraveler.com/dickinso... Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 377 3 users have rated it an average of 4.33 stars     [rate it]

     

Then join in hand, brave Americans all!
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall. -- The Liberty Song (1768).

John Dickinson

Our cause is just, our union is perfect. -- Declaration on taking up Arms in l775.

John Dickinson

Additional searches

Dickinson at Encarta Encyclopedia

Dickinson at Britannica Encyclopedia

Dickinson at Xrefer.com