Dickenson

Poems

**__Emily Dickinson__**


Known as an eccentric, odd recluse by the rest of the world, Dickinson kept friendships through letters and spent her life writing, as opposed to socializing. Dickinson died in 1886. In the last few years of her life, beginning in 1867 with the death of her dog Carlo and the abandonment of her maid, Dickinson became the subject of much gossip around town, known notoriously as 'The Woman In White'. Very rarely did anyone outside her home get a glimpse of her, and when they did, she was always wearing white. She wouldn't to speak face-to-face with visitors, talking through the door and never letting them in, sometimes refusing even to leave her room. Her only remaining article of clothing is a white dress. During her lifetime, she was known primarily for her gardening, and less than a dozen of her almost 1,800 poems were published, that too under heavy editing to fit the poetry rules of the time period. Hidden for all of her life, her poems were finally introduced to the public in 1890 by her sister, Lavinia, who had found them in Dickinson's possessions. After burning all of Dickinson's letters per her direction, Lavinia was befuddled as to what was to happen to the notebooks she found. After reading them, she realized the worth in her sister's writing, and began trying to get them published. Dickinson's work was mostly ignored or scoffed at during the 19th and 20th centuries. Her style of writing was unconventional and didn't fit with standard rules of poetry, and most critics expressed disdain at her unusual poems. However, today she is recognized as being ahead of her time in her works and style, and greatly admired. The reason for this lies in her originaltiy and spurning of the poetry rules of that time. Her use of commas, dashes, and half sentences is present in todays poetry, and critics hail her. Her unique poems and overwhelming contrast to the poets of her age makes her a true american symbol. Emily Dickinson symbolizes the very American practice of getting things right before everyone else, even if it means being spurned by the rest of the world- the prectice of being a true pioneer, just like America. She is known as a great American foreseer and influenced literature today. One of her more famous poems was the insightful 'Nobody'. I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody too? There's a pair of us, don't tell! They'd banish us, you know! How dreary to be somebody! How public like a frog, To tell your name the livelong day To an admiring bog! || This poem clearly shows Dickinson's isolation and dislike of society, especially the public life she blatantly hid from. Other notable works include 'Because I Could Not Stop For Death', 'Hope Is The Thing With Feathers', and 'Behind Me Dips Eternity'.