Emily Dickinson was an innovative and talented American poet who wrote nearly 1800 poems during her

brief lifetime from 1830 to 1886 Dickinson became publicly well known as a poet only after her death because she chose to publish only a very small number of her poems! somewhere between seven and twelve! during her lifetime Emily Dickinson's Life Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst! "assachusetts! to a well known family #er grandfather helped to found Amherst $ollege and her father! a lawyer! served for numerous years in the "assachusetts legislature and in the %nited &tates $ongress Dickinson had a one year older brother and a three years younger sister As a young girl and teenager Dickinson ac'uired many friends! some lasting a lifetime! received approval and attention from her father! and behaved fittingly for a girl during the (ictorian era &he received a classical education from the Amherst Academy and was re'uired by her father to read the )ible *hough she attended church regularly only for a few years! her $hristian foundation remained strong throughout her life Dickinson attended nearby "ount #olyoke $ollege for only one year! due to numerous reasons! and then was brought back home by her brother! Austin *he Dickinson family lived in a home overlooking the town+s cemetery! where she is buried! for a few years before moving into the home her grandfather had built! called ,*he #omestead , At home in Amherst! Dickinson became a capable housekeeper! cook! and gardener &he attended local events! became friends with some of her fathers+ ac'uaintances! and read a number of books given to her by her friends and her brother "ost books had to be smuggled into the home for fear that her father would disapprove of them Emily Dickinson en-oyed the writings of an impressive list of contemporaries such as Emerson! *horeau! #awthorne! .ongfellow! /hittier! .owell! and 0liver /endell #olmes! &r &he also read from the (ictorians! $harlotte )ronte! Eli1abeth )arrett )rowning! *homas $arlyle! and 2eorge Eliot! and the 3omantic poet .ord )yron &he also loved ,David $opperfield, by $harles Dickens /hen she discovered &hakespeare she asked! ,/hy is any other book needed4, 5n her home she hung portraits of Eliot! )rowning! and $arlyle Dickinson grew more reclusive into the 1860+s &he began writing poems and received favorable response from her friends *hroughout the rest of her life she adopted the friendly practice of giving poems to her friends and bou'uets of flowers from her garden #er garden was so varied and well7cared that she was better known as a gardener than a poet During the $ivil /ar years of the early 1860+s! Emily Dickinson wrote more than 800 poems! the most prolific writing period of her life During this period Dickinson saw the death of several friends! a teacher! and the declining health of her mother who she had to

tend closely *hese unhappy events saddened Dickinson and led her to treat the sub-ect of death in many of her poems 8ollowing the $ivil /ar and for the remaining 90 years of her life! Dickinson rarely left the property limits of *he #omestead #er father! mother! and sister .avinia all lived with her at home! and her brother lived ne:t door at *he Evergreens with his wife! &usan! a longtime friend to Emily! and their children &he en-oyed the company of her family and wrote often to her friends! but residents of Amherst only knew her as the ,woman in white, when they infre'uently saw her greeting visitors After several friends! a nephew! and her parents died! Dickinson wrote fewer and fewer poems and stopped organi1ing them! as she had been doing for many years &he wrote that! ,the dyings have been too deep for me , Dickinson developed a kidney disease which she suffered from for the remaining two years of her life *he final short letter that she wrote to her cousins read! ,.ittle $ousins! $alled )ack Emily , Characteristics of Dickinson's Poetry Emily Dickinson+s sister! .avinia! gathered Emily+s poems and published them in 18;0 Editors changed some of her words! punctuations! and capitali1ations to make them conform to a certain standard .ater editions restored Dickinson+s uni'ue style and organi1ed them in a roughly chronological order Emily Dickinson+s poems have many identifiable features #er poems have been memori1ed! en-oyed! and discussed since their first publication "any critics consider her to have been e:traordinarily gifted in her abilities to create concise! meaningful! and memorable poems *he ma-or themes in her poetry include 8riends! <ature! .ove! and Death <ot surprisingly! she also refers to flowers often in her poems "any of her poems+ allusions come from her education in the )ible! classical mythology! and &hakespeare Dickinson did not give titles to her poems! an unusual feature 0thers have given titles to some of her poems! and often the first line of the poem is used as a title &he wrote short lines! preferring to be concise in her images and references A study of her letters to friends and mentors shows that her prose style was composed of short iambic phrases! making her prose very similar to her poetry Dickinson+s poems are generally short in length! rarely consisting of more than si: stan1as! as in ,)ecause 5 $ould <ot &top for Death , "any of her poems are only one or two stan1as in length *he stan1as are 'uatrains of four lines &ome poems have stan1as of three or two lines *he rhythm in many of her poems is called common meter or ballad meter )oth types of meter consist of a 'uatrain with the first and third lines having four iambic feet and the

second and fourth lines having three iambic feet *he iambic foot is a unit of two syllables with the first syllable unstressed and the second syllable stressed 5n her 'uatrains the rhyme scheme is most often abcb! where only the second and fourth lines rhyme &uch a rhyme scheme is typical of a ballad meter "any other poems are written in a meter that is typical of English hymns *his rhythm pattern is characteri1ed by 'uatrains where lines one! two! and four are written in iambic trimeter and the third line is written in iambic tetrameter 0ften her rhymes are near rhymes or slant rhymes A near rhyme means that the two rhyming words do not rhyme e:actly *hey only make a near match 5n Dickinson+s poems! capitali1ations and punctuations are unorthodo: &he regularly capitali1ed the nouns but sometimes she was inconsistent and a few nouns were not capitali1ed 8or punctuation! she fre'uently used a dash instead of a comma or a period! and sometimes she used a dash to separate phrases within a line &ome editions of her poems have attempted to correct the punctuation of her poems A do1en or more composers have set Dickinson+s poems to music! including Aaron $opland who produced ,*welve &ongs on =oems of Emily Dickinson, in 1;61 0ne of the interesting ways to treat some of Dickinson+s most famous poems! often learned in school! is to sing them to the tune of ,Ama1ing 2race!, or ,*he >ellow 3ose of *e:as! or most humorously! the theme to ,2illigan+s 5sland , Because I Could Not Stop for Death ,)ecause 5 $ould <ot &top for Death, is a brilliant poem! well constructed! easily understood! and filled with many poetic conventions *he first stan1a is often 'uoted alone and represents one of the most inspired 'uatrains in American poetry 5n the first stan1a Dickinson has created a wonderful metaphor that is carried throughout the poem &he has personified death! giving him a name! a conveyance! and a companion *he presence of 5mmortality in the carriage softens the idea of the arrival of Death And the fact that #e kindly stopped is both a reassurance that his arrival was not unpleasant and an e:pression of the poet+s wit 5t is ironic in a humorous way to imagine Death being kind *he speaker in the poem is speaking of an event that happened in the past! another reassurance that there is survival after death Dickinson+s $hristian view of eternity and the immortality of life are evident in these stan1as *he second stan1a is about Death arriving slowly such as the result of a disease! which in fact Dickinson did succumb to at the end of her life Again! there is an ironic reference to Death! this time to his civility! which rhymes with ,immortality, from the first stan1a and ties the two stan1as together <otice that there are a couple of e:amples of alliteration! one in the first line with ,knew no!, and another in the third line with ,labor, and ,leisure ,

*he third stan1a gives a picture of the -ourney *he children and the school in the first line refer to early life *he fields of ripening grain in the third line refer to life+s middle stage 8inally! the setting sun in the fourth line refers to the final stage of life <otice the use of anaphora to effectively tie all of the stages of life together *he repetition of the phrase! ,we passed!, at the beginning of the lines is known as anaphora *here is also a pleasant e:ample of alliteration in the second line! ,recess, and ,ring , *he fourth stan1a contains two more e:amples of effective alliteration and creates the image of a person who is not dressed appropriately for a funeral 5n fact! the gossamer gown is more like a wedding dress! which represents a new beginning rather than an end <otice also the near rhyme in this stan1a as well as in several other stan1as 0ddly! this stan1a was not included in early editions of Dickinson+s poems? however it appears in all of the more recent editions *he grave or tomb is described in the fifth stan1a as a house *he description indicates that the poet feels at ease with the location *he last stan1a indicates that centuries have passed! though ironically it seems shorter than the day *he ,horses+ heads, is a comfortable alliteration and ties the vision back to the first stan1a *he final word! ,eternity!, which rhymes with ,immortality, in the first stan1a also brings all of the stan1as together and brings the poem to a calm close