- April is National Poetry Month
- Join the Vorhoff Library as we celebrate a woman poet each day during the month!
- Emily Dickinson
- Posted April 8, 2009
Emily Dickinson (1830-86)
was famously reclusive. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, she lived with her
parents her entire life, gradually secluding herself in their house over the
course of her adult life. Although she was a prolific poet, she only published
seven poems during her lifetime. Her poems were found after her death, and were
gradually published; however, it was not until 1960 that the first definitive
complete poems of Emily Dickinson was published.
Dickinson is interesting not just for her eccentric story, but for her poetry
itself. Though some might say it suffers from occasional overuse of dashes,
Dickinson's work is filled with arresting images and small profundities. If
you're interested in an analysis of Dickinson's use of metaphor, try checking
out Lunacy of Light: Emily Dickinson and the Experience of Metaphor by
Wendy Barker. If you just want to read her poems, though, we have a few
compilations for you. Final Harvest: Emily Dickinson's Poems provides an
overview of Dickinson's entire work, while On Love contains merely her
love poems.
Poem of the day:
To fight aloud is very brave –
But gallanter, I know
Who charge within the bosom,
The Cavalry of Woe
