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| The Truth's superb surprise | The Truth's superb surprise | ||
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| By the time of her death, no more than seven poems were published. But the legacy of 1776 poems brought the full extent of her work to the world. Today, Dickinson is not only considered one of the most read poets of all time but one of the most immediate. Features of her work that were considered oddities have become her signature aspects of her style and form. Dramatic asides, hymnbook rhythms, off-rhymes, multiple voices, and elaborate metaphors | |||
| have become recognizable to readers across time and many translations of her work. | |||
| == External links == | == External links == | ||
Revision as of 18:04, 29 March 2003
Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 - 1886), nineteenth century United States poet was born in Amherst, Massachusetts to a prominent family known for support of the local educational institutions.
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 compared this process to that 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, and, in the words of one of her most remembered 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 ...
By the time of her death, no more than seven poems were published. But the legacy of 1776 poems brought the full extent of her work to the world. Today, Dickinson is not only considered one of the most read poets of all time but one of the most immediate. Features of her work that were considered oddities have become her signature aspects of her style and form. Dramatic asides, hymnbook rhythms, off-rhymes, multiple voices, and elaborate metaphors have become recognizable to readers across time and many translations of her work.