Emily Dickinson, One of America's Greatest Poets

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Poets all around the world have affected many people throughout history. Emily Dickinson was one of the greatest American poets; her isolated life, unique writing style and descriptive poems are an inspiration to many. Her surroundings were always the reason behind her exquisite poetry.
Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts and she died on May 15, 1886 (Emily Dickinson 11). She was a distant person that secluded many people and devoted her life to looking after her parents. This is because she did not like the attention that her family’s fame brought. After the death of her parents, she isolated herself even more and communicated solely through poetry. Her passion for writing poetry was not discovered until after her death by her sister Lavinia (Emily Dickinson Selected Poems, 7). Her inspiration, Benjamin F. Newton gave her the ability to write nearly 1800 poems. He was one of her father’s lawyers that inspired her to start writing by introducing her to poetry by Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Wordsworth. Their writing influenced her and how she wrote greatly. The death of Newton made young Dickinson continue writing poetry, which had great effect afterwards (The European Graduate School 1).
Dickinson’s surroundings had a major affect on what she wrote about. Her poetry reflected the ideas of nature, love, life, time and eternity (The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Series One). For example, growing up Dickinson did not have a mother figure to look up to and help her with life. Also, her father was a very closed minded person that controlled what she did and did not allow her to pursue her dreams or do what she wants (Zabel 251-55). As referred back, Dickinson had a vast passion for poetry that nobody othe...

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