Emily Dickinson wrote some 1,800 poems that she never dared to publish. Only after her death did the world learn of the great poetess, whose works were taken apart for quotations.
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, USA. She grew up with her older brother William and younger sister Lavinia.
The girl received a good education: she attended elementary school and then Amherst Academy, studying languages, literature, botany, and geology. During her studies, she met people who became her friends and influenced her work: Jane Humphrey, Abby Wood, and Susan Huntington Gilbert.
When she was 14 years old, tragedy struck her family - her cousin Sophia Holland died. It shook the young poetess. She became quiet and indifferent to everything. To help her recover, her parents sent their daughter to Boston. Later the girl mentioned the event in a poem.
After graduation, the girl began attending Mount Lyon Female Seminary, which was located 16 kilometers from her hometown. But nine months later she abandoned the classes for unknown reasons and returned to her parents' home, which she almost never left for the rest of her days. The exception was in 1855, when Dickinson made a trip with visits to Washington and Philadelphia to accompany her congressman father.
Little is known about Dickinson's personal life. Researchers have never come to a conclusion about her sexual orientation. A woman has been attributed to romances with Susan Huntington Gilbert and with Otis Phillips Lord, but there is no documentary evidence of this. Emily was unmarried and had no children.
Shortly before finishing school, Emily became friends with principal Leonard Humphrey, whom she later called her mentor. Another thought leader was attorney Benjamin Franklin Newton, who introduced her to the work of William Wordsworth and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The man enjoyed listening to young Emily's poetry and prophesied her future as a great poet. He passed away early from tuberculosis.
The girl was interested in the works of writers of her time. She read Letters from New York by Lydia Maria Child and Kavanaugh by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. She was greatly influenced by the novel Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë. The girl named her only dog Carlo, just as St. John Rivers' character did.
After remaining in Amherst, Emily devoted herself to household chores, but enjoyed participating in the festivities and events held in town. She led a carefree and cheerful life, which was overshadowed by the death of Leonard Humphrey. In a letter to her friend Abia Ruth, the poet described the extent of her sadness, calling tears the only tribute she could pay to her late teacher.
Dickinson's school friend Susan Huntington Gilbert, who later married her brother William, received the most messages from Dickinson. The poetess referred to her sister-in-law as her muse and advisor. Researcher Lena Koski interprets the relationship between the girls as romantic. This idea is reflected in the comedy "Wild Nights with Emily," which was released in 2018.
After the poet's mother was diagnosed with a chronic illness, Dickinson found herself permanently confined to an estate in Amherst. She took over most of the household chores and spent much of her time reading and tending to the garden. This period was the peak of her creativity. Emily also rewrote and organized old works, gathering them into complete books, but she never decided to publish them for fear of criticism.
In the last years of her life, the woman rarely appeared in public. Her neighbors considered her a freak, because she preferred to wear white and talk to visitors through a closed door. But Emily continued to communicate through letters.
The poetess was ill a lot. During her studies at the academy, she had to miss a year because she was not feeling well. Shortly before her death, the woman experienced the loss of her parents, friends and beloved nephew, which undermined her health. But the cause of death was believed to be nephritis, which lasted 2.5 years.
Emily died in 1886, when she was 55 years old. She was buried in the Western Cemetery in Amherst.
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December 10, 1830, Amherst, MA
May 15, 1886, Amherst, MA
Edward Dickinson, Emily Norcross Dickinson
Amherst Academy (1840–1847), Mount Holyoke College
William Austin Dickinson, Lavinia Norcross Dickinson
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