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If I can stop........A poem of Emily Dickinson

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Emily Dickinson

Born

in Amherst, Massachusetts, The United States

December 10, 1830

Died

May 15, 1886

Genre

Poetry

Influences

William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Alfred ...more

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Emily Dickinson was an American poet who, despite the fact that less than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime, is widely considered one of the most original and influential poets of the 19th century.

Dickinson was born to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. 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 Emily Dickinson was an American poet who, despite the fact that less than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime, is widely considered one of the most original and influential poets of the 19th century.

Dickinson was born to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. 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 Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime.The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends.

Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Emily's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—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.

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Emily Dickinson’s books

Average rating: 4.21 · 215,703 ratings · 11,596 reviews · 1,545 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson 4.28 avg rating — 106,464 ratings — published 1890 — 227 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Selected Poems 4.18 avg rating — 30,042 ratings — published 1890 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson 4.23 avg rating — 15,691 ratings — published 1924 — 60 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun (Penguin Little Black Classics, #114) 3.88 avg rating — 4,631 ratings — published 1880 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Envelope Poems by Emily Dickinson, Jen Bervin (Editor), Marta Werner (Editor) 4.18 avg rating — 3,420 ratings — published 2016 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Poems by Emily Dickinson, Brenda Hillman (Editor) 4.23 avg rating — 2,433 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete 4.29 avg rating — 2,370 ratings — published 1890 — 151 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Morí por la belleza 4.11 avg rating — 2,283 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Final Harvest: Emily Dickinson's Poems by Emily Dickinson, Thomas H. Johnson (Editor) 4.27 avg rating — 2,091 ratings — published 1961 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Poems by Emily Dickinson, Series One by Emily Dickinson, Mabel Loomis Todd (Editor), Thomas Wentworth Higginson (Editor) 4.05 avg rating — 1,902 ratings — published 1890 — 96 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Emily Dickinson…

Series by Emily Dickinson

Poems by Emily Dickinson (4 books)
by

Emily Dickinson

4.15 avg rating — 5,102 ratings

Letters of Emily Dickinson (3 books)
by

Emily Dickinson,

Lena Karlin (Översättare),

Josefin Holmström (Goodreads Author) (Urval, Inledn., Kommentarer)

3.72 avg rating — 25 ratings

In a year that seems to present new challenges for us at every turn, Julia Alvarez’s latest novel, Afterlife, has arrived at the perfect time.

Polls

Hello! Please vote for the poet you would like to see win the poll for this month's read! Since we are doing poets, I am not putting actual books, just the poets themselves. You can read a whole book of their poems or maybe just one poem. Just be sure to vote!

Happy reading!

Sylvia Plath

2 votes, 25.0%

Emily Dickinson

2 votes, 25.0%

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

2 votes, 25.0%

Maya Angelou

2 votes, 25.0%

8 total votes

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