3.1 Emily Dickinson

                                        Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson is known as one of the greatest poets of her time. It wasn’t till after her death that her best work was released. Emily was born in 1830 and died in 1886, she lived in Amherst Massachusetts.  Emily was born into a very educated family.  Her grandfather was the founder of Amherst College, and Emily’s farther and brother were both lawyers. Her mother along with her sister stayed at home tending to the home.  Emily spent numerous hours a lone writing letters and poetry.  As Emily got older her life mimic a life that was withdrawn from society, but that was far from the truth. Emily’s poems reflected her thoughts of beauty, love, death, nature, and immortality.

Emily developed a relationship with several men that she held as mentors of her work.  Thomas Wentworth Higginson a poet critic was sent Emily’s work to view.  He would critique her work and send it back to her corrected and sometimes criticized. This writing relationship continued for several years.  Only eight of her poems were published in her lifetime. After her death Emily had wrote numerous poems that were found in her room that later was published.  It is a shame that people die and then become well known for their work.  I can’t say that I understand or even relate to some of her poems.  It seems that her work from the garden reflects what she has seen. And the work from her window reflects what she has viewed of the town and events that happened.  One would think the first thing to tell her as a critic would be to title the poems.

I feel that if the poems were titled we could get a better understanding.  I can’t imagine what her life was like day after day sitting in her room writing poems that had so much meaning to her. But we will never know the real meaning.  I see the passion she has from her writing I could relate to number forty-nine.  I understand the poem to be about death and you come to earth poor and leave poor, no matter who you are.