How did Emily Dickinson Reflect Romanticism? the Quiet Hope of a Poet

Emily Dickinson: The Early Years of an Unrecognized Genius

“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet,” is a famous quote in one of the most famous American poet’s literature. Emily Dickinson began writing poetry at a very young age which helped her pursue a lifelong love for poetry. Although she may be well known today for her work, it wasn’t until the early 1900s that her writing became famous. Emily Dickinson was a well-known poet that spent her life writing inspirational poems without recognition in her lifetime.

Emily Dickinson was the second child of three, born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Dickinson grew up in a moderately privileged household that had very strong religious connections. She had strained relationships with both parents growing up. Her mother was introverted and hardworking, but her father was very forceful and direct. She attended school at Amherst Academy, one of the best private schools in the state, for seven years. Dickinson was an eager and inventive student and believed that being at school gave her freedom. Being a very intelligent student, her teachers described her as optimistic and an excellent thinker. Dickinson spent her free time reading and writing letters which led her to become one of the most famous poets of the 19th century.

Hope and Resilience: The Power of Dickinson’s Poetic Imagery

Dickenson wrote poetry about nature, positivity, self-identity, immortality, and love. One of her most famous poems, “Hope is a Thing with Feathers,” written in 1861, is about positivity. In this poem, Dickinson uses personification and metaphors to describe that hope is what gets people through the hardships in life. She compares hope to a feather, and later, she describes hope as a bird. Feathers are soft and delicate, but feathers on a bird’s wing are fierce and have strength. This goes to show that hope by itself is gentle, and it cannot get by unless someone applies that hope to something. When a person is hopeful, they are unstoppable. Dickinson uses personification by saying that hope sings on forever and ever, even in the roughest part of the storms. This means that hope is never-ending. It will always be there for you, even at the lowest of lows. It will give you the strength to keep moving forward without asking for anything in return. Dickinson wrote this poem not only to give those around her the presence to keep moving forward but to give her a reason too. She wrote poems similar to this one to inspire others not to let things in life drag them down but to let them build them up and become stronger people from it.

Emily Dickinson’s Romanticism: A Brave Voice Amidst Personal Struggles and Unseen Impact

Emily wrote over one thousand eight hundred poems in her lifetime. She was known for always including poetry in her letters to family and friends, many of which were published later on after she passed away. She did not receive any rewards in her lifetime because not many of her poems got popular until closer to the 1900s. Emily Dickinson died on May 15, 1886, at the age of fifty-five, in her hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts. Her cause of death was unknown at the time, but recent research has proven that her symptoms and medications indicated she could have suffered from severe primary hypertension (high blood pressure), which could have led to heart failure or a brain hemorrhage.

Emily Dickinson’s poetry was brave and had many purposes to it. She wanted to be able to express her emotions through her poetry to help her through the many mental illnesses she had (anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, etc.). She also wanted to inspire those around her, whether it was receiving a message from her literature or allowing them to be creative and think outside of the box. Being optimistic, she was constantly coming up with new ways to incorporate many examples of figurative language into each piece. Emily Dickinson is one of the most well-known poets today. However, she lived a rather lonely life and was not able to see the impact her poetry had on people.

References

1. Dickinson, E. (1998). The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition. Edited by R. W. Franklin. Harvard University Press.
2. Sewall, R. B. (1974). The Life of Emily Dickinson. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
3. Habegger, A. (2001). My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. Random House.
4. Vendler, H. (1980). Dickinson: Selected Poems and Commentaries. Belknap Press.

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