Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was a highly respected American poet in the 19th century whose work is still famously regarded in today’s society of literature. Emily was born on the 10th of December in 1830 and died in 1886. Her works were not publically recognised during her lifetime but after her death her family found over 1800 poems, which were later, published in memorial. Her first works were published in 1890 and her last in 1955. Emily Dickinson grew up in a family that had a very orthodox and conservative approach to Christianity but did not believe in god herself, rather she considered herself a pagan. Emily Dickinson found conventions of society and social interaction boring and obsolete.

She seldom left home at a young age and experienced minimal contact with others as much as possible. These lifestyle choices had an impact on the contextual background of many of Dickinson’s works. The little interaction she did had consisted of correspondence through letter writing and pen pals with several other poets, her family and suspected love interests such as Otis.P.Lord, Samuel bowels and Reverend Charles Wadsworth. These unrequited love interests sparked and influenced Emily’s use of heartsick verse. By 1860 Emily lived in complete isolation only keeping in contact through correspondence and educating and widening her horizons by reading widely. The last people Emily had contact with were her family, who she spent a great deal of time with. She was raised in the transcendentalist era, and there was a lot of criticism oriented around the bible. Her father played an active role in politics at the time, which influenced her views on society, politics, education and the world around her. Although some of her works were inspired by metaphysical poets of the 17th century, her own work tended to defy tradition.

Many of Emily Dickinson’s works follow the format of short stanzas, mostly quatrains, with short lines, usually rhyming only on the second and fourth lines. Other...