About
Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family. She attended Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. In her early twenties, she began withdrawing from social life, becoming increasingly reclusive. She wrote nearly 1,800 poems, but only about ten were published during her lifetime, anonymously and heavily edited. Her most prolific period was during the American Civil War (1861-1865). After her death in 1886, her sister Lavinia discovered her manuscripts. The first complete and faithful edition of her poems was not published until 1955. Her style, marked by dashes, unconventional punctuation, and slant rhyme, was far ahead of its time.
* 1830-12-10 — † 1886-05-15
Major works
- Because I could not stop for Deathpoem
- I heard a Fly buzz – when I diedpoem
- Hope is the thing with featherspoem
- I'm Nobody! Who are you?poem
- The Poems of Emily Dickinson (1955)poetry collection
Key milestones
- 1830Born in Amherst, Massachusetts.
- 1858Began assembling manuscript books (fascicles) of her poems.
- 1886Died on May 15; her sister Lavinia discovered her unpublished poems.
Themes
Death and immortalityNatureLove and desireIsolation and societyConsciousness and perception
Sources: emilydickinsonmuseum.org · britannica.com
