Emily Dickenson (Famous Hermit Poet 1830 - 1886)

Emily Dickenson (1830-1886)

The famous hermit from Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) published only eight poems during her lifetime. Born to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life.

Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote. In fact she's noted for her unconventional broken rhyming meter and use of dashes and random capitalisation as well as her creative use of metaphor and overall innovative style. Her poems also tend to deal with themes of death and immortality, two subjects which infused her letters to friends.

Despite unfavorable reviews and skepticism of her literary prowess during the late 19th and early 20th century, critics now consider Dickinson to be a major American poet. Today her nearly 2,000 succinct, profound meditations on life and death, nature, love, and art make her one of the most original and important poets in English.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers—

By Emily Dickenson
“Hope” is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird—
That kept so many warm—

I’ve heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.

Emily Dickinson, “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Copyright 1945, 1951, ©1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reprinted with the permission of The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

It was not death, for I stood up

By Emily Dickenson
It was not death, for I stood up,
And all the dead lie down.
It was not night, for all the bells
Put out their tongues for noon.

It was not frost, for on my flesh
I felt siroccos crawl,
Nor fire, for just my marble feet
Could keep a chancel cool.

And yet it tasted like them all,
The figures I have seen
Set orderly for burial
Reminded me of mine,

As if my life were shaven
And fitted to a frame
And could not breathe without a key,
And 'twas like midnight, some,

When everything that ticked has stopped
And space stares all around,
Or grisly frosts, first autumn morns,
Repeal the beating ground;

But most like chaos, stopless, cool,
Without a chance, or spar,
Or even a report of land
To justify despair.

Safe in their alabaster chambers

By Emily Dickenson
Safe in their alabaster chambers,
Untouched by morning and untouched by noon,
Sleep the meek members of the resurrection.
Rafter of satin, and roof of stone.

Light laughs the breeze in her castle of sunshine;
Babbles the bee in a stolid ear;
Pipe the sweet birds in ignorant cadence,—
Ah, what sagacity perished here!

Grand go the years in the crescent above them;
Worlds scoop their arcs, and firmaments row,
Diadems drop and Doges surrender,
Soundless as dots on a disk of snow.

Dickinson poems are electronically reproduced courtesy of the publishers and the Trustees of Amherst College from The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Variorum Edition, Ralph W. Franklin, ed., Cambridge, Mass: The Belknap Press of Harvard University of Press, Copyright © 1988 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

MsJacquiiC · #1 04-13-2008, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Safe in their alabaster chambers,
Untouched by morning and untouched by noon,
Sleep the meek members of the resurrection.
Rafter of satin, and roof of stone.

Tribute.

Such a hermit insight that perished when Dickenson succumbed
She who saw the world with eyes hidden, yet never covered
Shall we seek, as Poets & Poetesses, such undaunted perfection

Happy National Poetry Month

JAcquii.

PaintedDiary · #2 04-13-2008, 01:19 AM

OMG! She only published 8 poems! Reading her work, makes me feel like she was before her time, so so so beautiful, elegant, one-of-kind and classic! This is ever so inspiring Ms Jacquii. These biographies are brilliant for National Poetry Month! Thank you for posting!

Kim

Kit Carson · #3 04-13-2008, 03:16 AM

Hah! I found the big book of Emily in Mr. Kay's last week for $ 8.00 and snatched it up! 1,775 poems to be exact. Astounding! She has been one of my favorites since the beginning...uh, 1974 to be exact.

MsJacquiiC · #4 04-13-2008, 03:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kit Carson

Hah! I found the big book of Emily in Mr. Kay's last week for $ 8.00 and snatched it up! 1,775 poems to be exact. Astounding! She has been one of my favorites since the beginning...uh, 1974 to be exact.

Oh WOW! Haven't been to Mr. Kay's in quite some time - sounds like you found an AWESOME bargain MIKE

Lucky you

Jacquii.

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