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Emily DickinsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Upon the first publication of her poems posthumously in 1890, Emily Dickinson became one of the preeminent voices of American poetry. Despite the questionable edits made by Mabel Loomis Todd and Thomas Higginson that strove to render her work in more conventional terms, Dickinson’s rebellious spirit captured audiences. Perhaps those on the forefront of the rapidly moving 1890s appreciated her vigor. Her resistance to tradition, plus her unique stance in observing the world around her, has caused her continued renown.
Dickinson, along with Walt Whitman—contemporaries who never met—had unique voices that broke with the traditional establishment, those poets who used strict rhyme, meter, form, and predictable subject matter. Both iconoclasts embraced more intimate subject matter, but while Whitman’s style was sprawling and inclusive, Dickinson’s was compact and revolutionary.
Writing in common meter rather than iambic pentameter, Dickinson concentrated on precise observations of the world around her, using detailed images of everyday events and objects in a quick cadence. Witty and subversive, she often verged on dissent. She was far more interested in the personal struggle than religious surety or convenient salvation. Distinctly elliptical, she would often render the truth through
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird, came down the Walk
A Bird, came down the Walk
Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
Emily Dickinson
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
"Faith" is a fine invention
Emily Dickinson
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Emily Dickinson
Hope is a strange invention
Hope is a strange invention
Emily Dickinson
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
Emily Dickinson
I Can Wade Grief
I Can Wade Grief
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
Emily Dickinson
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I should die
If I should die
Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the fall
If you were coming in the fall
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Emily Dickinson
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Emily Dickinson
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson
There is no Frigate like a Book
There is no Frigate like a Book
Emily Dickinson