Emily Dickinson


Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 - May 15, 1886), nineteenth century United States poet was born in Amherst, Massachusetts to a prominent family known for support of the local educational institutions. Emily's grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson, was one of the founders of Amherst College, and her father served as lawyer and treasurer for the institution. Emily's father also served in powerful positions on the General Court of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts State Senate, and the United States House of Representatives.

During a religious revival that swept Western Massachusetts during the decades of 1840-50, Dickinson found her vocation as a poet. One of her biographers has suggested that Dickinson thought of becoming a poet in the Biblical terms of Jacob wrestling with the angel.

Dickinson lived most of her life in the house in which she was born, made a few trips to visit relatives in Boston, Cambridge, and Connecticut. Most of her work is not only reflective of the small moments of what happens around her, but also of the larger battles and themes of what was happening in the larger society. For example, over half of her poems were written during the years of the American Civil War. In the words of one of her most memorable lines, Dickinson's poems tell all the truth but tell it slant:

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or everyman be blind

By the time of her death, no more than seven Dickinson poems had been published, but her legacy of 1776 poems eventually brought the full extent of her work to the world. Today, Dickinson is not only considered one of the most accessible poets of all time but one of the most representative. Features of her work that were considered oddities have become signature aspects of her style and form. Dramatic asides, odd capitalization, telegraphic dash punctuation, hymnbook rhythms, off-rhymes, multiple voices, and elaborate metaphors have become recognizable to readers across time and translations of her work.

She died, as she was born, in Amherst, Massachusetts.

External links



In the News

Suspicion Lingers Over Bisphenol A And Breast Cancer
Bisphenol A, a common industrial chemical claimed to speed the growth of human breast and ovarian cancers, retains its carcinogenic properties even after being modified by body processes. Defenders of bisphenol A's use have argued that its natural modification inside the human body renders the estrogen-like chemical harmless.

To Avoid Soccer Head Injuries, Soft Protective Headgear Is Only Effect
From small scrapes to hospital emergencies, playing soccer can be painful, and even dangerous. To avoid head injuries and concussions the only effective solution is wearing a soft protective headgear, as shown by Dr. Scott Delaney, research director of Emergency Medicine at the MUHC, in a new study published in the July issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

FingersCrossed: Has Steve Jobs Fixed Dot-Mac?
Rumormongers suggest that Steve Jobs might refresh the stale .Mac web services when he unveils new iMacs Tuesday. Apple's web services have the dubious distinction of being the company's most hated product.

Word From on High: Jam Cell Calls
Four churches in Mexico have unobtrusively installed Israeli-made cell-phone jammers to thwart those who don't seem to understand they should turn the things off during services or weddings. They're not the only ones to install the jammers.

Saharan Dust Storms Linked To Enigmatic Fertilizer Plankton In Ocean
Scientists have returned after six weeks on the Cape Verde Islands, 800 kilometers off the West African coast. They collected air and water samples in the search for a link between Saharan dust storms and the biological productivity of the ocean. The results were intriguing: the waters off Cape Verde contain huge amounts of the recently discovered cyanobacteria “UCYN-A”, an enigmatic fertilizer alga whose characteristics are puzzling to scientists.

Physicists Discover Temperature Key To Avalanche Movement
100 years after Einstein's landmark work on Brownian motion, physicists have discovered a new concept of temperature that could be the key to explaining how ice and snow particles flow during an avalanche, and could also lead to a better way of handling tablets in the pharmaceutical industry.

WGA, SAG, DGA Strike Over New Media Could Cripple Hollywood
As writers negotiate with producers for a bigger slice of online-distribution revenues, the possibility of actors and directors joining with disgruntled scribes for a megastrike rears its ugly head. It could simultaneously shutter the production of movies, TV and videogames.

Boost In Immune Response Fights Common Cold
Nursing facility residents who consumed 200 International Units (IUs) of vitamin E daily for one year were less likely to get the sniffles than those who took a placebo. Scientists funded by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) found that those who took the moderate supplements were 20 percent less likely to contract upper respiratory infections, such as colds.

Cassini's Radar Spots Giant Crater On Titan
A giant impact crater the size of Iowa was spotted on Saturn's moon Titan by NASA's Cassini radar instrument during Tuesday's Titan flyby.

Scientists Rid Stem Cell Culture Of Key Animal Cells
Tackling a pressing and controversial technical barrier in stem cell biology, scientists at the WiCell Research Institute and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have crafted a recipe that allows researchers to grow human embryonic stem cells in the absence of mouse-derived "feeder"cells, long thought to be a source of potential contamination for the therapeutically promising cells.




MP3 Music Downloads

Preview songs, Download Free Music,Burn CDs at ITunes.com
iTunes_RGB_9mm

 

Google




InformationQuickFind.com - Find Information Fast

Links | Privacy Policy | News |