Samantha &+Erik

**Emily Dickinson** 

**__Biography:__** Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst on December 10th, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. This was where she went to school, raised by her mother and a father. She had three siblings, Austin, Lavinnia (Vinnie), and Emily Elizabeth. Austin, was like a mother to Emily, she always ran to him when she needed someone to comfort her. This was because, the mother she had was cold and aloof towards the children. But, before Emily went to school, and became mentally ill, she visited her aunt in Monson. Her aunt thought Emily was a very well-behaved girl, who was perfectly well and contented. Emily's father wanted his children to be well-educated, and he continuously followed their progress, whether he was at home, or away on business. Emily's father was strict, but he cared for his children, always wanting the best for them. Before Emily attended the Amherst Academy, she went to a primary school on Pleasant Street. But, in 1840, Emily and her sister Vinnie started school at Amherst Academy. She turned out to be a very bright and witty child, who studied many subjects and languages at school. According to her principal. He thought that: "She was an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties.

However, underneath her love for school, Emily was often depressed, which had affected her since young age. This was because she was haunted by death. The events that traumatized her the most was when people who were especially close to her, died. There seemed to be not many happy highlights during Emily's life since she always thought in a negative way, and she hardly socialized with anyone at school.Emily never thought once about marrying, or having children, or being occupied with a job. She was very introverted, and seemed to be constantly lost in her own world. So, after she graduated she went right back home to aid her mother, who was chronically ill. Four years after her mother died, Emily's time had come, and in 1886 she died. Some of her books that were published after she died are called "Poems", which was published in 1890, and "Collected Poems" published in 1993, and "Poems of Emily Dickinson" published in 1995. Dickinson has not won any awards, but has been honored as one of the best poets of the 19th century.

__**Influences/Styles:**__ Throughout Emily Dickinson's life, she was not famous, or noticed by many people. But, when she was young, and at school, she was able to create many original writings of rhyming stories. She also enjoyed singing and had an unmistakable keen eye for art. Her ability to sing allows her poetry to flow like a song, but without music and her visual senses, and appreciation for bright colors is evident in many of her poems. However, her talents were not noticed until she befriended Benjamin Franklin Newton. After spending lot's of time with him, Newton finally gave a gift to Emily and it was Ralph Waldo Emerson's first book of collected poems. Since Newton was so nice to Emily, she thought of him has a mentor, because he was the first person who encouraged Emily to start writing poetry. Emily Dickinson had admired many other poets, which inspired her to craft a new type of poetry. She was inspired by William Shakespeare, referring to his plays in many of her poems. She also expressed her admiration of the writing of Thoreau, and the works of John Keats and Elizabeth Barret Browning. Emily Dickinson was inspired by these poets because she used some of their styles of poetry to pursue her own career in poetry. For example, like Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily experimented with expression in order to free it from the way it was normally used by poets. But, the one thing that she has been credited for creating was a new type of personality for the person telling the poem to the reader. This makes her poems unique and categorized as free verse poems, and nature poems.

When you read Emily Dickinson's poems you can see that she often thinks about the consequences of her life. For example, the "lover" in many of her poems is not a potential husband or "master", but death and eternity. Her poems have very deep meanings to them that you have to uncover by interpreting the figurative language she uses. For instance, her poems show how she was a sensitive woman, and how she was overwhelmed with her life, constantly in distress, but it is always covered underneath the words of her poems. There are multiple themes that are shown in each of her poems: love, death, nature, immortality, nature, domesticity, and the power and limits of language. The speaker of Emily's poem is always a sharp-sighted observer who sees the inescapable limitations of their societies as well as their imagined and imaginable escapes. Emily is also noted for the odd rhyming of her poems, and how her poems have random dashes, and capitalizations, as well as her creative use of metaphor and overall innovative style. According to Roy Harvey Pearce he thinks that "she is simply ad starkly concerned with being herself and not accommodating her view of the world to that concern." Which is true because while Emily lived, she didn't care what others thought of her.

**POEMS BY US**

** __That I have, a Dandelion__ ** ** By Erik ** ** That I have, ** ** a dandelion- ** ** which flickers in **** the WIND. **

** For it knows **** best- ** ** which way to- ** ** gaze and **** laugh **

** At which- ** ** it sprouts- ** ** its glory **** and **

** Look, oh- ** ** the white **** blobs float **** in distance. **

**__ Time is A Terrible Thing __** ** By Samantha ** ** Time is a terrible thing ** ** That stays with you forever, ** ** It passes like a gust of wind, ** ** Or imperishable, ** ** Like the flames of fire, **

** It's a stiff-necked thing; ** ** And I ask for it every day ** ** And it can be ordeal, ** ** Yet, hardly relied on by the overrunned, ** ** But always checked by impatience **

** I've heard its tick in the wiliest lands, ** ** And over by the sea- ** ** Constantly modulated; ** ** Never left alone. ** ** And then again, a branch could fall; **

** Or a sheet of soil lies on top, ** ** It keeps so many content- ** ** Never becomes mitigated, ** ** Just evermore loved; ** ** As it circulates through the air it burns the world down **

**Poems by Emily Dickinson**   __** The Mountain sat upon the Plain **__ ** By Emily Dickinson ** ** The Mountain sat upon the Plain **** In his tremendous Chair- ** ** His observation omnifold, ** ** His inquest, everywhere- ** ** The Seasons played around his knees ** ** Like Children round a sire- ** ** Grandfather of the Days is He **** of Dawn, the Ancestor- **

** __Hope is a Thing with Feathers__ ** ** By Emily Dickinson ** ** Hope is a 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. **

** __Bibliography:__ ** //"Emily Dickinson : The Poetry Foundation." Poetry Foundation. Web. 09 May 2011. .// //"Emily Dickinson Biography." Famous Poets and Poems - Read and Enjoy Poetry. 2006-2010. Web. 09 May 2011. .// //"Emily Dickinson." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 1 May 2011. Web. 09 May 2011. .// //Loving, Jerome. "Emily Dickinson." Emily Dickinson. World Book Student, 9 May 2011. Web. 9 May 2011.// //Merriman, C.D. "Emily Dickinson - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online. Discuss." The Literature Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries. Jalic Inc. Web. 09 May 2011. .// //Pettinger, Tejvan. "Emily Dickinson Biography." Biography of Emily Dickinson. Biography Online | Biographies of Inspirational and Famous People. 26 May 2006. Web. 09 May 2011. .// //"Transcendental Legacy--Emily Dickinson." Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 09 May 2011. .//