Emily Dickinson - Her Life and Poetry

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Emily Dickinson - Her Life and Poetry

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born December 10, 1830, into an influential family in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her father helped found Amherst College, where Emily later attended between 1840 and 1846. She never married and died in the house where she was born on May 15, 1886.

Emily Dickinson’s reclusive life was arguably a result of her proposed bi-polar disorder. This life and disorder unduly influenced the themes of her poetry. She chose not to associate herself with society and volumes of her poems, published posthumously, examine this idea as well as the themes of nature and death. The clearest examples of these themes are presented in the following analysis of just of few of her poems that concurrently exemplify her idiosyncratic style.

Dickinson’s feelings about society can be seen in her poem, “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” This poem defends her reclusive life and criticizes the lives of members of society, “the frogs,” who are busy circulating their names, “croaking,” to be recognized. Again in her poem, “The S...

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