Emily Dickinson

"Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune--without the words, and never stops at all," (Dickinson). Emily Dickinson was a woman who quietly held onto the torch of hope. "One of the finest lyric poets in the English language, the American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was a keen observer of nature and a wise interpreter of human passion. Her family and friends published most of her work posthumously" (Emily Dickinson, Encyclopedia of World Biography). Though Dickinson is known for her reclusive nature, she did attend school in her earlier years. "After attending primary school, Dickinson studied at Amherst Academy from 1840 to 1847, before spending a year at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Following the completion of her education, Dickinson lived at home with her parents and younger sister, Lavinia," (Dickinson, Emily, U*X*L Encyclopedia of U.S. History). Emily Dickinson is famed both for her unique lifestyle and style of writing, as well as for the emotional depth found in her poetry.

Emily Dickinson

In Dickinson's life, her style of living and writing were considered quite different from those of her time. Poetry critics today analyze her atypical style, "Often her poems open with a clear story line, but quickly fade at their close into silence, as if to suggest her inquiry continues in the subconscious. As she wrote in another poem, it was the poet's job to distill 'amazing sense/from ordinary meaning,'" (Loving). Poems do not typically work the way Dickinson's did. She wrote with such form that she was able to capture the readers in almost a trance. She wrote these poems out of her heart and in no specific way. It was just how they turned out. While Dickinson was extremely prolific as a poet and regularly enclosed poems in correspondence to friends, she was not publicly recognized during her lifetime. "In the letters, Emily and Susan are in their early twenties. Though Emily's feelings of love, desire, and longing for Susan have often been dismissed as a school-girl crush,' the letters resonate with intelligence, humor, and intimacy that cannot be reduced to adolescent flurry" (About.com). Most people back then didn't show their feelings for people of the same gender. Even if they did, their family was ashamed of them for doing so. She was not like most people of the 19th century time era. Most people are not known for their uniqueness, but she is so different that, she is.

This 19th century poet is known for the emotions evoked within her poetry. Emily rarely left her home in the latter part of her life, and her writing reflects this isolation. "Dickinson's poetry reflects her loneliness and the speakers of her poems generally live in a state of want, but her poems are also marked by the intimate recollection of inspirational moments which are decidedly life-giving and suggest the possibility of happiness," (Emily Dickinson, Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More). She did not go out and do much, but she wrote poems and letters to her friends. And if you read her poems, you will see that she was not really happy. She was able to find comfort in writing her poems.. Emily was able to reach a different point in poetry, which stood out when it got published. While Dickinson was extremely prolific as a poet and regularly enclosed poems in letters to friends, she was not publicly recognized during her lifetime. Most people know what they want to do or be, but Emily did not seem to have thoughts about it. She lived in a house in Amherst, Massachusetts alone and wrote poems that would later make her famous. I look up to Emily Dickinson because she is different from many and, no matter how hard I try, I am unable to reach her level of emotion.

Emily Dickinson's Grave

"And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm, That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm"(Dickinson). In Emily's lifetime, she was different from all the other poets and other people over all. But it was not just this that made her famous, it was also her way of writing and how she acted and just who she was. She is my hero not just because of how different she was, but because she was able to love someone of the same gender and not care if her family knew or not. However, she is recognized for her uniqueness as well as her emotional depth. "I've heard it in the chilliest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me." (Dickinson).