इमिली डिकिन्सन: Difference between revisions

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'''इमिली एलिजाबेथ डिकिन्सन''' (डिसेम्बर १०, १८३० – मे १५, १८८६) छम्ह अमेरिकन चिनाखँमि ख। [[आम्हेर्स्ट, म्यासेचुसेट्स]]य् छगू सम्पन्न परिवारय् बुयादीम्ह वय्‌कलं छगू introverted and reclusive life म्वानादील। वय्‌कलं [[Amherst Academy]]इ ७दँ तक्क ब्वनेधुंका बचा हाकःगु ई तक्क [[माउन्ट होलियोक फिमेल सेमिनरी]]इ ज्या यानादिल व लिपा ‌थःगु परिवारया आम्हेर्स्टय् लिहांझाल। Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence.

Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was not until after her death in 1886&mdash;when Lavinia, Emily's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems&mdash;that the breadth of Dickinson's work became apparent. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances [[Thomas Wentworth Higginson]] and [[Mabel Loomis Todd]], both of whom heavily edited the content. A complete and mostly unaltered collection of her poetry became available for the first time in 1955 when ''The Poems of Emily Dickinson'' was published by scholar Thomas H. Johnson. Despite unfavorable reviews and skepticism of her literary prowess during the late 19th and early 20th century, critics now consider Dickinson to be a major American poet.<ref name="Bloo9">Bloom (1999), 9; Ford (1966), 122.</ref>

 

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born at the [[Dickinson Homestead|Homestead]] in [[Amherst, Massachusetts]] on December 10, 1830 into a prominent, but not opulent, family.<ref>Sewall (1974), 321.</ref> Two hundred years earlier, the Dickinsons had arrived in the New World&mdash;in the [[puritan]] [[Great Migration (Puritan)|Great Migration]]&mdash;where they prospered.<ref> Sewall (1974), 17–18.</ref> Emily Dickinson's paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, had almost single-handedly founded [[Amherst College]].<ref>Sewall (1974), 337; Wolff (1998), 19–21.</ref> In 1813, he built the Homestead, the large mansion on the town's Main Street that became the focus of Dickinson family life for the better part of a century.<ref>Wolff (1998), 14.</ref> Samuel Dickinson's eldest son, [[Edward Dickinson|Edward]], was treasurer of Amherst College for nearly forty years, served numerous terms as a State Legislator, and represented the Hampshire district in the [[United States Congress]]. On May 6, 1828, he married Emily Norcross from [[Monson, Massachusetts|Monson]]. They had three children:

* [[William Austin Dickinson|William Austin]] (1829–1895), known as Austin, Aust or Awe;

On September 7, 1840, Dickinson and her sister Vinnie started together at Amherst Academy, a former boys' school that had opened to female students just two years earlier.<ref name="Sew337">Sewall (1974), 337.</ref> At about the same time, her father purchased a house on North Pleasant Street.<ref name="Hab129">Habegger (2001), 129.</ref> Emily's brother Austin later described this large new home as the "mansion" over which he and Emily presided as "lord and lady" while their parents were absent.<ref>Sewall (1974) 322.</ref> The house overlooked Amherst's burial ground, described by one local minister as treeless and "forbidding".<ref name="Hab129"/>

 

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Because they liked me "still" &ndash;

For Treason &ndash; in the Pound &ndash;

|-

After finishing her final term at the Academy on August 10, 1847, Dickinson began attending [[Mary Lyon]]'s [[Mount Holyoke College|Mount Holyoke Female Seminary]] (which later became [[Mount Holyoke College]]) in [[South Hadley, Massachusetts|South Hadley]], about ten miles (16 km) from Amherst.<ref>Ford (1966), 46.</ref> She was at the Seminary for only ten months. Although she liked the girls at Holyoke, Dickinson made no lasting friendships there.<ref>Sewall (1974), 368.</ref> The explanations for her brief stay at Holyoke differ considerably: either she was in poor health, her father wanted to have her at home, she rebelled against the evangelical fervor present at the school, she disliked the discipline-minded teachers, or she was simply homesick.<ref>Sewall (1974), 358.</ref> Whatever the specific reason for leaving Holyoke, her brother Austin appeared on March 25, 1848 to "bring [her] home at all events".<ref>Habegger (2001), 211.</ref> Back in Amherst, Dickinson occupied her time with household activities.<ref name="Pic19">Pickard (1967), 19.</ref> She took up baking for the family and enjoyed attending local events and activities in the budding college town.<ref>Habegger (2001), 213.</ref>

 

When she was eighteen, Dickinson's family befriended a young attorney by the name of Benjamin Franklin Newton. According to a letter written by Dickinson after Newton's death, he had been "with my Father two years, before going to Worcester &ndash; in pursuing his studies, and was much in our family."<ref>Habegger (2001), 216.</ref> Although their relationship was probably not romantic, Newton was a formative influence and would become the second in a series of older men (after Humphrey) that Dickinson referred to variously as her tutor, preceptor or master.<ref>Sewall (1974), 401.</ref>

 

Dickinson was familiar not only with the [[Bible]] but also with contemporary popular literature.<ref>Knapp (1989), 59.</ref> Dickinson was probably influenced by [[Lydia Maria Child]]'s ''Letters from New York,'' another gift from Newton<ref name="Ford18"/> (after reading it, she enthused "This then is a book! And there are more of them!"<ref name="Ford18">Ford (1966), 18.</ref>). Her brother smuggled a copy of [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]'s ''Kavanagh'' into the house for her (because her father might disapprove)<ref>Sewall (1974), 683.</ref> and a friend lent her [[Charlotte Brontë]]'s ''[[Jane Eyre]]'' in late 1849.<ref name="Hab226">Habegger (2001), 226.</ref> ''Jane Eyre'''s influence cannot be measured, but when Dickinson acquired her first and only dog, a [[Newfoundland (dog)|Newfoundland]], she named him Carlo after the character St. John Rivers' dog.<ref name="Hab226"/> [[William Shakespeare]] was a potent influence in her life. Referring to his plays, she wrote to one friend "Why clasp any hand but this?" and to another "Why is any other book needed?"<ref>Sewall (1974), 700–701.</ref>

 

 

In early 1850 Dickinson wrote that "Amherst is alive with fun this winter ... Oh, a very great town this is!"<ref name="Pic19"/> Her high spirits soon turned to melancholy after another untimely death. The Amherst Academy principal, Leonard Humphrey, died suddenly of "brain congestion" at age 25.<ref>Sewall (1974), 340.</ref> Two years after his death, she revealed to her friend Abiah Root the extent of her depression: "...&nbsp;some of my friends are gone, and some of my friends are sleeping &ndash; sleeping the churchyard sleep &ndash; the hour of evening is sad &ndash; it was once my study hour &ndash; my master has gone to rest, and the open leaf of the book, and the scholar at school ''alone'', make the tears come, and I cannot brush them away; I would not if I could, for they are the only tribute I can pay the departed Humphrey".<ref name="Sew341"/>

 

During the 1850s, Emily's strongest and most affectionate relationship was with Susan Gilbert. Emily eventually sent her over three hundred letters, more than to any other correspondent, over the course of their friendship. Her missives typically dealt with demands for Sue's affection and the fear of unrequited admiration, but because Sue was often aloof and disagreeable, Emily was continually hurt by what was mostly a tempestuous friendship.<ref>Pickard (1967), 21.</ref> Sue married Austin in 1856 after a four-year courtship, although their marriage was not a happy one. Edward Dickinson built a house for him and Sue called [[Dickinson Homestead#Austin Dickinson house|the Evergreens]], which stood on the west side of the Homestead.<ref>Habegger (2001), 338.</ref>

 

 

Until 1855, Dickinson had not strayed far from Amherst. That spring, accompanied by her mother and sister, she took one of her longest and farthest trips away from home.<ref>Sewall (1974), 444.</ref> First, they spent three weeks in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], where her father was representing [[Massachusetts's 10th congressional district|Massachusetts]] in [[United States Congress|Congress]]. Then they went to [[Philadelphia]] for two weeks to visit family. In Philadelphia, she met Charles Wadsworth, a famous minister of the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, with whom she forged a strong friendship which lasted until his death in 1882.<ref>Sewall (1974), 447.</ref> Despite only seeing him twice after 1855 (he moved to [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] in 1862), she variously referred to him as "my Philadelphia", "my Clergyman", "my dearest earthly friend" and "my Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood".<ref>Habegger (2001), 330.</ref>

The first half of the 1860s, after she had largely withdrawn from social life,<ref>Ford (1966), 39.</ref> proved to be Dickinson's most productive writing period.<ref>Habegger (2001), 405.</ref>

 

In April 1862, [[Thomas Wentworth Higginson]], a literary critic, radical [[Abolitionism|abolitionist]] and ex-minister, wrote a lead piece for ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'' entitled "Letter to a Young Contributor". Higginson's essay, in which he urged aspiring writers to "Charge your style with life", contained practical advice for those wishing to break into print.<ref>Johnston (1960), v.</ref> Seeking literary guidance that no one close to her could provide, Dickinson sent him a letter which read in full:<ref>Sewall (1974), 541.</ref>

 

{{Quote|Mr Higginson,<br />Are you too deeply occupied to say if my Verse is alive?<br /> The Mind is so near itself &ndash; it cannot see, distinctly &ndash; and I have none to ask &ndash;<br /> Should you think it breathed &ndash; and had you the leisure to tell me, I should feel quick gratitude &ndash;<br /> If I make the mistake &ndash; that you dared to tell me &ndash; would give me sincerer honor &ndash; toward you &ndash;<br /> I enclose my name &ndash; asking you, if you please &ndash; Sir &ndash; to tell me what is true?<br /> That you will not betray me &ndash; it is needless to ask &ndash; since Honor is it's [sic] own pawn &ndash;}}

 

Dickinson delighted in dramatic self-characterization and mystery in her letters to Higginson.<ref>Habegger (2001), 455.</ref> She said of herself: "I am small, like the wren, and my hair is bold, like the chestnut bur, and my eyes like the sherry in the glass that the guest leaves."<ref>Black (1964), 45.</ref> She stressed her solitary nature, stating that her only real companions were the hills, the sundown and her dog, Carlo. She also mentioned that whereas her mother did not "care for Thought", her father bought her books, but begged her "not to read them &ndash; because he fears they joggle the Mind".<ref>Habegger (2001), 456.</ref> Dickinson valued his advice, going from calling him "Mr. Higginson" to "Dear friend" as well as signing her letters "Your Gnome" and "Your Scholar".<ref>Sewall (1974), 554–555.</ref> His interest in her work certainly provided great moral support; many years later, Dickinson exaggeratedly told Higginson that he had saved her life in 1862.<ref>Wolff (1998), 254.</ref> They corresponded until her death.<ref>Wolff (1998), 258.</ref>

 

In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866.<ref>Habegger (2001), 498.</ref> Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, it is possible that Dickinson was too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing.<ref>Habegger (2001), 501.</ref> Carlo died during this time after sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that her family brought in a permanent household servant to replace the old one.<ref>Habegger (2001), 502.</ref> Emily once again was responsible for chores, including the baking, at which she excelled.

 

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Her blameless mystery &ndash;

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When Higginson urged her to come to Boston in 1868 so that they could formally meet for the first time, she declined, writing: "Could it please your convenience to come so far as Amherst I should be very glad, but I do not cross my Father's ground to any House or town".<ref>Habegger (2001), 521.</ref> It was not until he came to Amherst in 1870 that they met. Later he referred to her, in the most detailed and vivid physical account of her on record, as "a little plain woman with two smooth bands of reddish hair ... in a very plain & exquisitely clean white pique & a blue net worsted shawl."<ref>Habegger (2001), 523.</ref> He also felt that he never was "with any one who drained my nerve power so much. Without touching her, she drew from me. I am glad not to live near her."<ref>Habegger (2001), 524.</ref>

 

 

Scholar Judith Farr notes that Dickinson, during her lifetime, "was known more widely as a gardener, perhaps, than as a poet".<ref name=Farr3to6/> Dickinson had studied botany from the age of nine and had tended the garden at Homestead since age twelve.<ref name=Farr3to6/> As a teenager, she pieced together a sixty-six page leather-bound [[herbarium]] containing 424 pressed flower specimens that she had collected, classified and labeled using the [[Linnaean taxonomy|Linnaean]] system.<ref> Habegger (2001), 154.</ref> The Homestead garden was well-known and admired locally in its time. It has not survived and Dickinson kept no garden notebooks or plant lists, but a clear impression can be formed from the letters and recollections of friends and family. One niece, for example, remembered "carpets of [[Lily of the Valley|lily-of-the-valley]] and [[Pansy|pansies]], platoons of [[Sweet pea|sweetpeas]], [[Hyacinth (plant)|hyacinths]] enough in May to give all the bees of summer dyspepsia. There were ribbons of [[peony]] hedges and drifts of [[Narcissus (genus)|daffodils]] in season, [[Calendula|marigolds]] to distraction—a butterfly utopia".<ref name="Parker">Parker, G9.</ref> In particular, Dickinson cultivated scented exotic flowers, writing that she "could inhabit the [[Spice Islands|Spice Isles]] merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets". Dickinson would often send her friends bunches of flowers with verses attached, but "they valued the posy more than the poetry".<ref name="Parker"/>

 

On June 16, 1874, while in Boston, Edward Dickinson suffered a stroke and died. When the simple funeral was held in the Homestead's entrance hall, Emily stayed in her room with the door cracked open. Neither did she attend the memorial service on June 28.<ref>Habegger (2001), 562.</ref> She wrote to Higginson that her father's "Heart was pure and terrible and I think no other like it exists."<ref>Habegger (2001), 566.</ref> A year later, on June 15, 1875, Emily's mother also suffered a stroke, which produced a partial lateral [[paralysis]] and impaired memory. Lamenting her mother's increasing physical as well as mental demands, Emily wrote that "Home is so far from Home".<ref>Habegger (2001), 569.</ref>

 

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To put it out &ndash;

|-

After being critically ill for several years, Judge Lord died in March 1884. Dickinson referred to him as "our latest Lost".<ref>Habegger (2001), 597.</ref> Two years before this, on April 1, 1882, Dickinson's "Shepherd from 'Little Girl'hood", Charles Wadsworth, also died after a long illness.

 

Although she continued to write in her last years, Dickinson stopped editing and organizing her poems. She also exacted a promise from her sister Lavinia to burn her papers.<ref>Habegger (2001), 604.</ref> Lavinia, who also never married, remained at the Homestead until her own death in 1899.

 

The 1880s were a difficult time for the remaining Dickinsons. Irreconcilably alienated from his wife, Austin fell in love in 1882 with [[Mabel Loomis Todd]], an Amherst College faculty wife who had recently moved to the area. Todd never met Dickinson but was intrigued by her, referring to her as "a lady whom the people call the ''Myth''".<ref>Walsh (1971), 26.</ref> Austin distanced himself from his family as his affair continued and his wife became sick with grief.<ref>Habegger (2001), 612.</ref> Dickinson's mother died on November 14, 1882. Five weeks later, Dickinson wrote "We were never intimate ... while she was our Mother &ndash; but Mines in the same Ground meet by tunneling and when she became our Child, the Affection came."<ref>Habegger (2001), 607.</ref> The next year, Austin and Sue's third and youngest child, Gilbert—Emily's favorite—died of typhoid fever.<ref>Habegger (2001), 615.</ref>

 

As death succeeded death, Dickinson found her world upended. In the fall of 1884, she wrote that "The Dyings have been too deep for me, and before I could raise my Heart from one, another has come."<ref>Habegger (2001), 623.</ref> That summer she had seen "a great darkness coming" and fainted while baking in the kitchen. She remained unconscious late into the night and weeks of ill health followed. On November 30, 1885, her feebleness and other symptoms were so worrying that Austin canceled a trip to Boston.<ref>Habegger (2001), 625.</ref> She was confined to her bed for a few months, but managed to send a final burst of letters in the spring. What is thought to be her last letter was sent to her cousins, Louise and Frances Norcross, and simply read: "Little Cousins, Called Back. Emily".<ref>Wolff (1998), 534.</ref> On May 15, 1886, after several days of worsening symptoms, Emily Dickinson died at the age of 55. Austin wrote in his diary that "the day was awful ... she ceased to breathe that terrible breathing just before the [afternoon] whistle sounded for six."<ref name="Hab627">Habegger (2001), 627.</ref> Dickinson's chief physician gave the cause of death as [[Bright's disease]] and its duration as two and a half years.<ref>Habegger (2001), 622.</ref>

 

 

Despite Dickinson's prolific writing, fewer than a dozen of her poems were published during her lifetime. After her younger sister Vinnie discovered the collection of nearly eighteen hundred poems, Dickinson's first volume was published four years after her death. Until the 1955 publication of Dickinson's ''Complete Poems'' by Thomas H. Johnson, her poetry was considerably edited and altered from their manuscript versions. Since 1890 Dickinson has remained continuously in print.

 

 

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In the 1870s, [[Thomas Wentworth Higginson|Higginson]] showed Dickinson's poems to [[Helen Hunt Jackson]], who had coincidentally been at the Academy with Dickinson when they were girls.<ref name=Sewall581>Sewall (1974), 580–583.</ref> Jackson was deeply involved in the publishing world, and managed to convince Dickinson to publish her poem "Success is counted sweetest" anonymously in a volume called ''A Masque of Poets''.<ref name=Sewall581/> The poem, however, was altered to agree with contemporary taste. It was the last poem published during Dickinson's lifetime.

 

After Dickinson's death, Vinnie Dickinson kept her promise and burned most of the poet's correspondence. Significantly though, Dickinson had left no instructions about the forty notebooks and loose sheets gathered in a locked chest.<ref name=Farr3>Farr (1996), 3.</ref> Vinnie recognized the poems' worth and became obsessed with seeing them published.<ref>Pickard (1967), xv.</ref> She turned first to her brother's wife and then to Mabel Loomis Todd, her brother's mistress, for assistance.<ref>Wolff (1998), 535.</ref> A feud ensued, with the manuscripts divided between the Todd and Dickinson houses, preventing complete publication of Dickinson's poetry for more than half a century.<ref>Wolff (1998), 6</ref>

 

The first volume of Dickinson's ''Poems,'' edited jointly by Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson, appeared in November 1890.<ref name="Wol537">Wolff (1998), 537.</ref> Although Todd claimed that only essential changes were made, the poems were extensively edited to match punctuation and capitalization to late 19th-century standards, with occasional rewordings to reduce Dickinson's obliquity.<ref>McNeil (1986), 34; Black (1964), 42.</ref> The first 115-poem volume was a critical and financial success, going through eleven printings in two years.<ref name="Wol537"/> ''Poems: Second Series'' followed in 1891, running to five editions by 1893; a third series appeared in 1896. One reviewer, in 1892, wrote: "The world will not rest satisfied till every scrap of her writings, letters as well as literature, has been published".<ref>Buckingham (1989), 194.</ref> Two years later, two volumes of Dickinson's letters, heavily edited, appeared. In parallel, Susan Dickinson placed a few of Dickinson's poems in literary magazines such as ''[[Scribner's Magazine]]'' and ''The Independent''.

 

The first scholarly publication came in 1955 with a complete new three-volume set edited by Thomas H. Johnson. It formed the basis of all later Dickinson scholarship. For the first time, the poems were printed very nearly as Dickinson had left them in her manuscripts.<ref name="Martin">Martin (2002), 17.</ref> They were untitled, only numbered in an approximate chronological sequence, strewn with dashes and irregularly capitalized, and often extremely [[elliptical]] in their language.<ref>McNeil (1986), 35.</ref> Three years later, Johnson edited and published, along with Theodora Ward, a complete collection of Dickinson's letters.

 

 

:''See: [[s:Author:Emily Dickinson|Emily Dickinson at Wikisource]] for complete poetic works''

*'''Post-1866'''. It is estimated that two-thirds of the entire body of her poetry was written before this year.<ref name="Johnstonviii"/>

 

The extensive use of [[dash]]es and unconventional [[capitalization]] in Dickinson's manuscripts, and the [[idiosyncratic]] vocabulary and imagery, combine to create a body of work that is "far more various in its styles and forms than is commonly supposed".<ref name=Hecht153>Hecht (1996), 153–155.</ref><ref name="Mc2"/> She did not write in traditional [[iambic pentameter]] (a convention of English-speaking poetry for centuries), and did not even use a five-[[Foot (prosody)|foot]] line. Her line lengths vary from four syllables or two feet to often eight syllables or four feet.<ref name="For63">Ford (1966), 63.</ref> Her frequent use of approximate or [[half rhyme|slant rhyme]] attracted attention since her work first appeared in print.<ref name="For63"/> Her poems typically begin with a declaration or definition in the first line ("The fact that Earth is Heaven"), which is followed by a metaphorical change of the original premise in the second line ("Whether Heaven is Heaven or not").<ref>McNeil (1986), 11.</ref> Dickinson's poems can easily be set to music because of the frequent use of [[free verse|rhyme and free verse]]. Written for the most part in [[common meter]], they can also be set to songs that use the same alternating lines of [[iambic tetrameter]] and [[iambic trimeter]].<ref>Wolff (1998), 186.</ref> Dickinson scholar Anthony Hecht finds resonances not only with songs but also with [[psalms]] and [[riddle]]s, citing the following example: "Who is the East?&nbsp;/ The Yellow Man&nbsp;/ Who may be Purple if he can&nbsp;/ That carries the Sun.&nbsp;/ Who is the West?&nbsp;/ The Purple Man&nbsp;/ Who may be Yellow if He can&nbsp;/ That lets Him out again."<ref name=Hecht153/>

 

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As Farr points out, "snakes instantly notice you"; Dickinson's version captures the "breathless immediacy" of the encounter; and ''The Republican'''s punctuation renders "her lines more commonplace".<ref name=Farr3/> With the increasingly close focus on Dickinson's structures and syntax has come a growing appreciation that they are "aesthetically based".<ref name=Farr3/> Although Johnson's landmark 1955 edition of poems was relatively unaltered from the original, later scholars critiqued it for deviating from the style and layout of Dickinson's manuscripts. Meaningful distinctions, these scholars assert, can be drawn from varying lengths and angles of dash, and differing arrangements of text on the page.<ref>Crumbley (1997), 14.</ref> Several volumes have attempted to render Dickinson's handwritten dashes using many typographic symbols of varying length and angle. R. W. Franklin's 1998 variorum edition of the poems provided alternate wordings to those chosen by Johnson, in a more limited editorial intervention. Franklin also used typeset dashes of varying length to approximate the manuscripts' dashes more closely.<ref name="Martin"/>

 

Dickinson left no formal statement of her aesthetic intentions and, because of the variety of her themes, her work does not fit conveniently into any one genre. She has been regarded, alongside [[Ralph Waldo Emerson|Emerson]] (whose poems Dickinson admired), as a [[Transcendentalism|Transcendentalist]].<ref>Bloom (1998), 18.</ref> However, Farr disagrees with this analysis saying that Dickinson's "relentlessly measuring mind ... deflates the airy elevation of the Transcendental".<ref>Farr (1996), 13.</ref> Apart from the major themes discussed below, Dickinson's poetry frequently uses humor, puns, [[irony]] and [[satire]].<ref>Wolff (1998), 171.</ref>

 

*'''The Undiscovered Continent'''. Academic Suzanne Juhasz considers that Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as tangible visitable places and that for much of her life she lived within them.<ref name=Juhasz132>Juhasz (1996), 130–140.</ref> Often, this intensely private place is referred to as the "undiscovered continent" and the "landscape of the spirit" and embellished with nature imagery. At other times, the imagery is darker and forbidding—castles or prisons, complete with corridors and rooms—to create a dwelling place of "oneself" where one resides with one's other selves.<ref name=Juhasz132/> An example that brings together many of these ideas is: "Me from Myself – to banish –&nbsp;/ Had I Art –&nbsp;/ Impregnable my Fortress&nbsp;/ Unto All Heart –&nbsp;/ But since myself—assault Me –&nbsp;/ How have I peace&nbsp;/ Except by subjugating&nbsp;/ Consciousness.&nbsp;/ And since We're mutual Monarch&nbsp;/ How this be&nbsp;/ Except by Abdication –&nbsp;/ Me – of Me?".<ref name=Juhasz132/>

 

The surge of posthumous publication gave Dickinson's poetry its first public exposure. Backed by Higginson and with a favorable notice from [[William Dean Howells]], an editor of ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'', the poetry received mixed reviews after it was first published in 1890. Higginson himself stated in his preface to the first edition of Dickinson's published work that the poetry's quality "is that of extraordinary grasp and insight".<ref>Black (1964), 12.</ref> [[Maurice Thompson]], who was literary editor of ''The Independent'' for twelve years, noted in 1891 that her poetry had "a strange mixture of rare individuality and originality".<ref>Black (1964), 28.</ref> Some critics hailed Dickinson's effort, but disapproved of her unusual non-traditional style. [[Andrew Lang]], a British writer, dismissed Dickinson's work, stating that "if poetry is to exist at all, it really must have form and grammar, and must rhyme when it professes to rhyme. The wisdom of the ages and the nature of man insist on so much".<ref>Black (1964), 37.</ref> [[Thomas Bailey Aldrich]], a poet and novelist, equally dismissed Dickinson's poetic technique in ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'' in January 1892: "It is plain that Miss Dickinson possessed an extremely unconventional and [[grotesque]] fancy. She was deeply tinged by the mysticism of [[William Blake|Blake]], and strongly influenced by the mannerism of [[Ralph Waldo Emerson|Emerson]] ... But the incoherence and formlessness of her — versicles are fatal ... an eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse in an out-of-the-way New England village (or anywhere else) cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar".<ref>Black (1964), 55.</ref>

 

The [[Second-wave feminism|second wave]] of [[feminism]] created greater cultural sympathy for her as a female poet. In the first collection of critical essays on Dickinson from a female perspective, she is heralded as the greatest woman poet in the English language.<ref>Juhasz (1983), 1.</ref> Biographers and theorists of the past tended to separate Dickinson's roles as a woman and a poet. For example, George Whicher wrote in his 1952 book ''This Was a Poet: A Critical Biography of Emily Dickinson'', "Perhaps as a poet [Dickinson] could find the fulfillment she had missed as a woman." Feminist criticism, on the other hand, declares that there is a necessary and powerful conjunction between Dickinson being a woman and a poet.<ref>Juhasz (1983), 9.</ref> Adrienne Rich theorized in "Vesuvius at Home: The Power of Emily Dickinson" (1976) that Dickinson's identity as a woman poet brought her power, making her "neither eccentric nor quaint; she was determined to survive, to use her powers, to practice necessary economics."<ref>Juhasz (1983), 10.</ref> Similarly, some scholars question the poet's sexuality, theorizing that the numerous letters and poems that were dedicated to Susan Gilbert Dickinson indicate a lesbian romance, and speculating about how this may have influenced her poetry.<ref>Martin (2002), 58</ref>

 

Emily Dickinson is now considered a powerful and persistent figure in American culture.<ref>Martin (2002), 1.</ref> Although much of the early reception concentrated on Dickinson's eccentric and secluded nature, she has become widely acknowledged as an innovative pre-modernist poet.<ref>Martin (2002), 2.</ref> As early as 1891, William Dean Howells wrote that "If nothing else had come out of our life but this strange poetry we should feel that in the work of Emily Dickinson, America, or New England rather, had made a distinctive addition to the literature of the world, and could not be left out of any record of it."<ref>Black (1964), 24.</ref> Twentieth-century critic [[Harold Bloom]] has placed her alongside [[Walt Whitman]], [[Wallace Stevens]], [[Robert Frost]], [[T. S. Eliot]] and [[Hart Crane]] as a major American poet.<ref name="Bloo9"/>

 

Dickinson is taught in [[American literature]] and [[Poetry of the United States|poetry]] classes in the United States from middle school to college. Her poetry is frequently anthologized and has been used as texts for art songs by composers such as [[Aaron Copland]], [[Nick Peros]], [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]] and [[Michael Tilson Thomas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/d/dickinson/ |title=Emily Dickinson |publisher=Emily Ezust's Lied and Art Song Texts website |accessdate=2008-01-18 }}</ref> Several schools have been established in her name; for example, two Emily Dickinson Elementary Schools exist in [[Bozeman, Montana]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bozeman.k12.mt.us/emilyd/aboutus.lhtml |title=Mission Statement|publisher=Emily Dickinson School website, Bozeman, Montana |accessdate=2008-01-16 }}</ref> and [[Redmond, Washington]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://schools.lwsd.org/dickinson/webpages/realemily.htm |title=The Real Emily Dickinson|publisher=Emily Dickinson Elementary School website, Redmond, Washington |accessdate=2008-07-24 }}</ref> A few literary journals—including ''[[The Emily Dickinson Journal]]'', the official publication of the Emily Dickinson International Society—have been founded to examine her work.<ref name="journal">{{cite web |url=http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/emily_dickinson_journal/ |title=The Emily Dickinson Journal|publisher=The Johns Hopkin University Press website, Baltimore |accessdate=2007-12-18 }}</ref> The Amherst Jones Library's Special Collections department has an Emily Dickinson Collection consisting of approximately seven thousand items, including original manuscript poems and letters, family correspondence, scholarly articles and books, newspaper clippings, theses, plays, photographs and contemporary artwork and prints.<ref name="jones">{{cite web |url=http://www.joneslibrary.org/specialcollections/collections/dickinson/dickinson_print.html |title=Emily Dickinson Collection |publisher=Jones Library, Inc. website, Amherst, Massachusetts |accessdate=2007-12-18 }}</ref> Dickinson's [[herbarium]], which is now held in the Houghton Library at [[Harvard University]], was published in 2006 as ''Emily Dickinson's Herbarium'' by [[Harvard University Press]]. In 1965, in recognition of Dickinson's growing stature as a poet, the Homestead was purchased by Amherst College. It opened to the public for tours, and also served as a faculty residence for many years. The [[Emily Dickinson Museum]] was created in 2003 when ownership of the Evergreens, which had been occupied by Dickinson family heirs until 1988, was transferred to the college.<ref name="museum">{{cite web |url=http://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/history.html |title=History of the Museum |publisher=Emily Dickinson Museum website, Amherst, Massachusetts |accessdate=2007-12-13 }}</ref>

 

{{reflist|4}}

 

* Johnston, Thomas H. (ed). 1960. ''The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson''. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

 

* Bianchi, Martha Dickinson. 1970. ''Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters with Notes and Reminiscences''. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books.

* Blacke, Caesar R. (ed). 1964. ''The Recognition of Emily Dickinson: Selected Criticism Since 1890''. Ed. Caesar R. Blake. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

* Ford, Thomas W. 1966. ''Heaven Beguiles the Tired: Death in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson''. University of Alabama Press.

* Gura, Philip F. 2004. [http://www.common-place.org/vol-04/no-02/gura/ "How I Met and Dated Miss Emily Dickinson: An Adventure on eBay"], ''Common-place, The Interactive Journal of Early American Life, Inc''. '''4'''( 2). Retrieved: June 23, 2008.

* Hecht, Anthony. 1996. "The Riddles of Emily Dickinson" in Farr (1996) 149–162.

* Juhasz, Suzanne. 1996. "The Landscape of the Spirit" in Farr (1996) 130–140.

* Knapp, Bettina L. 1989. ''Emily Dickinson''. New York: Continuum Publishing.

* Oberhaus, Dorothy Huff. 1996. "&nbsp;'Tender pioneer': Emily Dickinson's Poems on the Life of Christ" in Farr (1996) 105–119.

* Parker, Peter. 2007. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/main.jhtml?xml=/gardening/2007/06/29/gemily29.xml "New Feet Within My Garden Go: Emily Dickinson's Herbarium"], [[The Daily Telegraph]], June 29, 2007. Retrieved: January 18, 2008.

* Pickard, John B. 1967. ''Emily Dickinson: An Introduction and Interpretation''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

* Pollak, Vivian R. 1996. "Thirst and Starvation in Emily Dickinson's Poetry" in Farr (1996) 62–75.

* Stocks, Kenneth. 1988. ''Emily Dickinson and the Modern Consciousness: A Poet of Our Time''. New York: St. Martin's Press.

* Walsh, John Evangelist. 1971. ''The Hidden Life of Emily Dickinson''. New York: Simon and Schuster.

* Wells, Anna Mary. 1929. "Early Criticism of Emily Dickinson", ''American Literature'', Vol. 1, No. 3. (Nov., 1929).

 

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