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What Does Looking For A Deeper Meaning In Emily Dickinson's Poetry

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Looking for a Deeper Meaning in Emily Dickinson’s Poetry Born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts (“A Timeline”), Emily Dickinson is a classic, female American poet most people are familiar with nowadays. However, if her name or works are unknown to some, they are missing out on poetry with a unique style and the ability to touch readers’ hearts by addressing themes about human nature. Since she was a keen observer of Amherst life, nature, and human passion (Byers and Bourgoin 541), it was easy for her to write about said themes. Besides that, Emily Dickinson’s use of themes such as death and mourning in her poetry is highly influenced by her own life experiences. Due to this, her poems become deeper and genuine, making it easier …show more content…

To be more specific, Dickinson shows varied opinions about the subject of death (Dickinson et al. 125-126). For example, in the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” she personifies death as a person who kindly stopped to take her on a ride, “Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me –/ The Carriage held but just Ourselves – / And Immortality” (1-4). This portrays the theme of death being something people should not be afraid of for it is something everyone has to go through eventually. However, in the poem “I Measure Every Grief I Meet” Dickinson shows to be having a hard time dealing with the grief death brings along with it. This drastic change in perspective towards death, might be due to the events that occurred throughout Dickinson’s life. Unfortunately, there is no way to prove if the successive deaths of Emily Dickinson’s acquaintances was the reason for that change. This is mainly due to Emily Dickinson herself, who wanted to stay away from the public eye and avoided publishing her poems (Dickinson et al. 5). Despite having her poems published by others after her death (Dickinson et al. 6), no one was able to figure out when her poems were exactly written. Because of this, it is impossible to know the reasons behind Dickinson’s switch in position regarding death. However, there is one thing that …show more content…

Overall, Dickinson lived a life of reclusion, intense writing, and continuous mourning (“Emily Dickinson: The Later Years”). One might even say that Dickinson used literature to cope with her feelings through harsh times. Because of this, she was able to create pieces highly influenced by her life; she created pieces that are genuine and will keep being appreciated over time, as proven by her poems “I Measure Every Grief I Meet” and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” After breaking these poems down, people should be convinced of Dickinson’s talent and authenticity. However, if there they consider there is still room for doubt, why do they not try reading the rest of her works? Works Cited “A Timeline of Emily Dickinson’s Life.” Emily Dickinson Museum. n.d. 7 February 2018. Web. (-- removed HTML --) Byers, Paula K., and Suzanne M. Bourgoin. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Print Dickinson, Emily. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death (479).” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. 5 July 2016. 7 February 2018. Web. (-- removed HTML --) Dickinson, Emily. “I Measure Every Grief I Meet (561).” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. 27 March 2014. 7 February 2018. Web. (-- removed HTML --) Dickinson, Emily, Mabel L. Todd, and Thomas W. Higginson. Favorite Poems of Emily Dickinson. New York: Avenel Books, 1978.

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