Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830
in Amherst Massachusetts. She had
a younger sister named Lavina and an older
brother named Austin. Her mother
Emily Norcross Dickinson, was largely
dependent on her family and was seen by
Emily as a bad mother. Her father
was lawyer, Congressman, and the Treasurer for
Amherst College. Emily’s
mother and father didn’t get along very well, but
unlike her mother Emily
loved and admired her father. Emily’s family lived a
quiet secure life. They
rarely shared their problems with one another so Emily
had plenty of privacy
for writing. During her childhood, Emily and her family
attended The First
Congregational Church on every Sunday. Emily did not like
going to church
because she didn't think of herself as being very religious. She
refused to
believe that Heaven was a better place than Earth and eventually
rebelled
from the church. Emily saw herself as a woman who had her own way
of
thinking, a way of thinking shaped neither by the church or society. By
the time
she was twelve, her family moved to a house on Pleasant Street where
they lived
from 1840 to 1855. Emily was already writing letters, but composed
most of her
poetry in this home. Emily only left home to attend Mount Holyoke
Female
Seminary for two semesters. She impressed her teachers with her
"courage and
directness" in her poetry. They felt her writing was very good.
At the age of
twenty-one, Emily and her family moved to the "Dickinson
Homestead" on Main
Street. This move was very difficult for Emily. This
was difficult for Emily
because she became very attached to her old house.
They now lived next door to
her brother Austin and his wife Susan and their
daughter Martha. Emily and Susan
became so close that many people believe
they may have been lovers. Emily was
known to have written many love letters
and poems to Susan. Martha attempted to
protect both of their images and tell
everyone the rumors weren’t true. It
became common knowledge that Emily had
some type of very strong feelings for
Susan. The following is one of the
letters that Emily wrote to Susan: "It's a
sorrowful morning Susie--the wind
blows and it rains; "into each life some
rain must fall," and I hardly know
which falls fastest, the rain without,
or within--Oh Susie, I would nestle
close to your warm heart, and never hear the
wind blow, or the storm beat,
again. Is there any room there for me, darling,
and will you "love me more if
ever you come home"?--it is enough, dear
Susie, I know I shall be
satisfied. But what can I do towards you? dearer you
cannot be, for I love
you so already, that it almost breaks my heart--perhaps I
can love you anew,
every day of my life, every morning and evening--Oh if you
will let me, how
happy I shall be! The precious billet, Susie, I am wearing the
paper out,
reading it over and o'er, but the dear thoughts cant wear out if they
try,
Thanks to Our Father, Susie! Vinnie and I talked of you all last
evening
long, and went to sleep mourning for you, and pretty soon I waked up
saying
"Precious treasure, thou art mine," and there you were all right,
my
Susie, and I hardly dared to sleep lest someone steal you away. Never
mind the
letter, Susie; you have so much to do; just write me every week one
line, and
let it be, "Emily, I love you," and I will be satisfied! Your
own,
Emily" http://www.sappho.com/poetry/historical/e_*censored*in.html
At the age
of thirty-one Emily sent some of her poems to a publisher, Thomas
Higginson, who
liked her poetry a lot. A strong friendship developed. He gave
her a lot of
advice, but she never seemed to use any of it. It became evident
that she didn't
like the idea of having her works published, she made 40
packets of about twenty
poems apiece from 814 poems. She placed these in a
box along with close to 300
other poems. Emily died on May 5, 1886 at the age
of 56. She had planned her own
funeral. It was held at the mansion on Main
Street and ended at the family plot
near the house on Pleasant Street. At her
request, her casket was covered with
violets and pine boughs, while she
herself was dressed in a new white gown and
had a strand of violets placed
about her neck. Before she died, Emily left
specific instructions for her
sister and a housemaid, Maggie to destroy all the
letters she had received
and saved. The box of packets and poems was found with
these letters, but
Emily had not said anything about destroying them. Her sister
Lavina was
determined to have these published, but Susan kept them for two years
before
they were released to Higginson. In 1890 and 1891, some of the poems
were
published. They received a great response, but no more were released
until 1955,
when the rest of her poems were published. Though she was not
religious it is
said that many of her poems do reflect religious views. She
wrote many of her
poems on pain, death, and suffering, although a lot were
also written about
love, lust, and romance. A lot of people see her as a
hermit who spent much of
her life writing and living by herself. She chose
her words for her poems in a
way that allows the reader to choose the meaning
of the poem to them and relate
it to their life. She wrote nearly eighteen
hundred poems, most staying away
from rhyme and punctuation. Emily’s poems
did not have titles because she
never wanted them to be published. Many of
her poems are a little hard to
interpret, but after reading this hopefully
you will have a little bit better
understanding of her
life.
Bibliography
American Authors pgs. 25-48. "Emily Elizabeth
Dickinson," Microsoft®
Encarta® Encyclopedia 99. © Microsoft Corporation.
Lebita, Edzen. "Emily
Dickinson, a few selected poems" February 20th,2000
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Lights/4192/dickinson.html
President
and fellows of Harvard College, "Virtual Emily" February 20th,
2000
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/index1.html
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/1813.html
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/1830.html
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/1840.html
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/1855.html
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/1860.html
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/1874.html
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/1886.html
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/1955.html
http://www.sappho.com/poetry/historical/e_dickin.html