Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (1830-86) is known for her bold original verse, which stands out for its epigrammatic compression, haunting personal voice, and enigmatic brilliance.

Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even to leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most of her friendships were based entirely upon correspondence.

Although Dickinson was a prolific writer, her only publications during her lifetime were one letter and 10 of her nearly 1,800 poems.^[4] The poems published then were usually edited significantly to fit conventional poetic rules. Her poems were unique for her era; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme** as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.^[5] Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality (2 recurring topics in letters to her friends), aesthetics, society, nature, and spirituality.

Editors had "some poems of [Dickinson's] under consideration for publication—but they really are not suitable—they are too ***ethereal."

[***extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world.
"her ethereal beauty." Similar: delicate, exquisite, dainty, elegant, graceful, beautiful.]

She said of herself, “I . . . am small, like the Wren [bird], and my Hair is bold, like the Chestnut Bur—and my eyes, like the Sherry in the Glass, that the Guest leaves.”

They corresponded until her death, but her difficulty in expressing her literary needs and a reluctance to enter into a cooperative exchange left Higginson, a literary critic, abolitionist, ex-minister ****nonplussed; he did not press her to publish in subsequent correspondence.

[****nonplussed {adjective}: (of a person) surprised and confused so much that they are unsure how to react. "he would be completely nonplussed and embarrassed at the idea." Similar: confused, bewildered, bemused, puzzled, perplexed, baffled.]

No Coward Soul Is Mine (Emily Bronte; Wuthering Heights).

No coward soul is mine

No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere

I see Heaven's glories shine

And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear 

 

Though earth and moon were gone

And suns and universes ceased to be

And Thou wert left alone

Every Existence would exist in thee

There is not room for Death 

Nor atom that his might could render void

Since thou art Being and Breath 

And what thou art may never be destroyed.

 

 

[**Half rhyme or imperfect rhyme, sometimes called near-rhyme, lazy rhyme, or slant rhyme, is a type of rhyme formed by words with similar but not identical sounds. In most instances, either the vowel segments are different while the consonants are identical, or vice versa. This type of rhyme is also called approximate rhyme, inexact rhyme, imperfect rhyme (in contrast to perfect rhyme), off rhyme, analyzed rhyme, suspended rhyme, or sprung rhyme.]