3-1 Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson has been regarded as one of the most gifted poets of her time. She was born in 1830 and lived until 1886. Dickinson was from a prominent family and was well educated. She spent much of her life in her home in Amherst, Massachusetts. Throughout her years she spent countless hours alone writing poetry in her bedroom. At a glance it would seem that Dickinson was withdrawn from society and therefor understanding human emotion. In fact she was deeply connected with it all: writing of love, death, nature, and immortality.


In her early thirties she developed a relationship with Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a man her worked as a poetry critic. She sent him many of her poems, and in return he corrected and criticized them. Although he had much to say about her style and grammar he could not deny genius that Dickinson possessed. Maybe this is the reason they carried on this relationship for twenty-two years, all the way up until her death. I am not surprised that only eight of her poems were published while she was alive. It seems that many of history’s famous poets and authors did not get their break until after their death. When Dickinson’s work was discovered in her room there were 1,800 poems neatly packed together, which makes me think it was her pride and joy. Although many of her poems were not published during her lifetime, or even read by others, Dickinson took immense pride in her work.

I cannot say I completely understand what she was thinking as she sat hour after hour writing her poetry, but I do know the joy I feel when I finish a poem. Often times, even if no other eyes will ever see it, I feel relieved when I am finally finished. Dickinson was withdrawn from society and only shared a few meaningful relationships with other people. She used poetry as an outlet for all the thoughts and feelings she could not express otherwise.

Emily Dickinson’s poetry for me is very hard to read and to understand. The words are from a time where the language was different. Although I do not understand the meaning of all the poems or exactly what she is trying to say, I see the passion in her work. I particularly liked poem 732 and did feel like I found meaning in its words. I know that Dickinson spent her years alone, and was left with her sister to run the house. I get the feeling that she felt trapped in her own home. In poem 732 I get the feeling that Dickinson was not very fond of the idea of marriage and the role that women played in it at the time. During her time, women were expected to cook, clean, raise the kids, and be obedient to their husbands. Emily believed in women pursuing their hopes and dreams. Overall this is just my opinion of this poem and could be completely wrong.