Poet · 1830 – 1886
Emily Dickinson
Key Takeaways
- Dickinson wrote nearly 1,800 poems but published only a handful in her lifetime.
- She lived much of her life in seclusion in Amherst, Massachusetts.
- Her poems are famous for their compression, dashes and slant rhyme.
- She is now considered one of the greatest American poets.
Emily Dickinson published almost nothing and rarely left her family home in Amherst, Massachusetts. Yet hidden in her room were nearly 1,800 poems of such originality that she would become one of the greatest poets in the language.
A private revolution
Dickinson wrote in short, electric bursts — poems full of dashes, half-rhymes and startling images, circling death, nature, faith and the self. “Because I could not stop for Death,” “Hope is the thing with feathers” — her lines compress vast feeling into a few words. She sewed her poems into little hand-bound booklets that her family discovered only after she died.
Founder of modern American poetry
Where her contemporary Walt Whitman wrote in sprawling, expansive lines, Dickinson worked by compression and surprise — yet together they founded a distinctly American poetry. Drawing on the inward intensity of Romantics like John Keats, this poet of the modern era broke poetic convention so completely that her work still feels startlingly new.
Influence
Dickinson's radically original, compressed style broke the conventions of her era and helped open the way to modern poetry.
Legacy
Discovered only after her death, she is now ranked, with Walt Whitman, as a founder of distinctly American poetry.
Major Works
- Because I could not stop for Death
- Hope is the thing with feathers
- I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Connections
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Emily Dickinson?
Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) was an American poet who lived reclusively and published almost nothing in life, but whose nearly 1,800 poems made her a giant of American literature.
What is Emily Dickinson's poetry like?
Her poems are short and intense, marked by unusual dashes, slant rhyme and compressed images, exploring death, nature, faith and the inner self.
Citations & Sources
People Like Emily
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