Emily Dickinson: Letters

by Emily Dickinson, Emily Fragos (Editor)

The same voice and insights that make Emily Dickinson’s poems immortal can be found in the letters she wrote to her family and friends throughout her life. The selection of letters presented here provides a fuller picture of the eccentric recluse of legend, showing how immersed in life she was: we see her tending her garden; baking bread; marking the marriages, births, and deaths of those she loved; reaching out for intellectual companionship; and confessing her personal joys and sorrows.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, History, Literature

247 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

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.

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/emily-di...

Reviews

[julieta]

Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite poets. It seems she breathes wisdom and beauty, her voice seems to be made of many layers, and the more you read her, the more you see how deep her writing is. So I am very happy to have read this book, its her, writing to friends, to family, to loved ones. It´s just so beautiful to be able to read this side of her. Her images, her descriptions, and just her living her life is written and expressed in these letters. Her humanity. I loved this, and I will surely come back to read her. In her poetry, I think that the more you read her the more you discover, I feel these letter are to have that effect too.

[Anna P (whatIreallyRead)]

"...you know some cannot sing, but the orchard is full of birds, and we all can listen."

I started this collection of letters as a follow-up to reading and loving Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson.

Dickinson's letters were lovely to read. A lot of them were filled with some of the same themes as her poems - nature, spirituality, mourning. Others were just mementos of a life lived with love, displaying closeness, attentiveness, caring for her friends, family and neighbors and an incredible capacity for contemplation.

"... when I try to organize, my little force explodes and leaves me bare and charred."

"...I hope that nothing pains you except the pang of life, sweeter to bear than to omit."

I love the way she writes. Be it a trivial life situation or a serious observation, her phrasing mesmerizes me, immerses me into her experience, creates a unique atmosphere.

This made me laugh:

"Father was very severe to me; he thought I'd been trifling with you, so he gave me quite a trimming about "Uncle Tom" and "Charles Dickens" and these "modern literati" who, he says, are nothing, compared to past generations who flourished when he was a boy" 1854

All in all, I recommend it. Especially to those who enjoy Dickinson's poetry, or who are interested to see the time period through the eyes of someone who was right in the process of experiencing it.

[lethe]

3.5 stars.

This selection of Dickinson's letters is beautifully presented in a hardcover booklet complete with reading ribbon.

I thought it was a pity that the letters were arranged by theme and not chronologically or at least by recipient, but I loved Dickinson's writing. Although I have to admit that I found her later letters (dating from the 1880s) increasingly difficult to follow.

=====================

Een selectie uit Dickinson's brieven, mooi uitgegeven als geschenkboekje met leeslint.

Ik vond het jammer dat de brieven waren ingedeeld naar thema en niet chronologisch werden gepresenteerd of op zijn minst naar ontvanger, maar Emily kon prachtig schrijven. Hoewel ik moet bekennen dat ik haar latere brieven (uit de jaren 1880) steeds onnavolgbaarder vond worden.

[shelby]

“if i read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, i know that is poetry. if i feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, i know that is poetry. these are the only ways i know it. is there any other way?”

emily dickinson..... the things you wrote? who gave you the right? every other page there something new to tear my heart open. and you were just casually writing to the people in your life, spitting mad poetry! you simply astonish me.

[Elisa]

✉️ LETTERS by Emily Dickinson ✉️

For #TheFierceWomenBookclub we read this collection of letters by Emily Dickinson back in April. I had no idea what to expect since I haven't even read any poetry by Dickinson, so I went in completely open-minded. The letters were written with love and attention, Dickinson wrote such beautiful prose! I did not like that the letters weren't in chronological order but divided by theme, which made it difficult to understand the timeline. Other than that, it was great and I can't wait to read some of Emily Dickinson's poetry.

[Kelly]

Ask me in my youth what one book I would need, and I might say Brothers Grimm fairytales. Ask me again in my adolescence, I might say Salinger’s masterpiece. Ask me now in middle age, I declare Dickinson’s Letters to be the finest elixir made of ink.

[Paola Valiente]

"Pardon my sanity, Mrs. Holland, in a world insane, and love me if you will, for I had rather be loved than to be called king in earth, or a lord in Heaven"

[marie ✻ ✶]

— 3.75 ✨

[Kellean]

In her poems, Emily Dickinson comes across as meditative and innovative. We have the stereotype of her as a reclusive genius, trapped in the family house, scratching out poems that will never be published until she passes away. Her letters though reveal a completely different portrait. Her personality - whimsical, passionate, and witty - is a startling contrast to what we usually think of her. In pen and paper, Emily Dickinson becomes flesh and blood in the reader's mind with her intense longing for human connection, her fascination with death, or as she call it "Immortality," and the grief it brings, her compassion and empathy for those who suffer, her generosity to friends and family, and a fierce love for nature. Her letters capture, if only a little, the spirit and personality of a woman who quietly shared her works with a select few. Read her poems to appreciate her imagination and genius; read her letters to even grasp an small understanding of her being.

[Jess d'Artagnan]

I enjoyed reading Emily's first-hand letters. I didn't like how the book was set up, though. The letters are not in chronological order but are grouped by topic. There is also no biographical information included to help you understand the context of the letters which was frustrating. I had to do a lot of research while reading the book to really get the impact and context of her letters. It would have been much more effective to actually write that information in the book itself and to list the letters chronologically.

[amelie]

i wanted more letters to sue

[Kyriaki Gkourgkouli]

the gossip section.

[gabby]

bring back writing letters !!

[Shelley]

When I toured the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst a few years ago, I picked up a slender volume of her letters at the gift shop. I promptly forgot about the book until I started watching the Apple TV "Dickinson" series recently. Inspired by the unique, contemporary approach to the poet's life in the 1800s, I started rereading some of her sublime poetry and picked up this book of letters.

To say I was astonished by the language in these letters to friends and family is an understatement. Reading these quirky, beautifully crafted missives underscored their author's eccentricity and original use of the English language, forcing it to do her bidding. I'd love to say I understood everything she wrote but, alas, I cannot. I attribute this partly to her letters being in response to letters from others, which contained subjects that she alludes to but rarely directly addresses. The times she is clearest is in her many letters that fall under the heading "Mourning and Solace." She is indeed well acquainted with Death and knows just what to say. I can only wonder at how her letters' recipients understood and, I imagine, cherished her poetic correspondence.

If "Dickinson" is your jam, read her letters too.

[rosie]

Excuse me for the voice, this moment immortal.

Emily Dickinson will forever be my favorite poet, I think. Her letters hold the same sort of beauty. I wish the collection included more letters to Sue, but otherwise it was a wonderful experience. I’m not usually big on reading letters and diaries, but her verse is so alive still, and thus I must.

[Sarah]

This small book prompts me to read a larger collection. Dickinson's letters are mostly prose poems, beautiful observations connected with her everyday life. Writing to a friend just after her father's death: "His heart was pure and terrible, and I think no other like it exists. I am glad there is Immortality, but would have tested it myself, before intrusting him...Your beautiful hymn, was it not prophetic? It has assisted that pause of space which I call "father".
And to the critic Higginson: "To live is so startling, it leaves but little room for other occupations, though friends are, if possible, an event more fair."
Again to Higginson: "A letter always feels to me like Immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend. Indebted in our talk to attitude and accent, there seems a spectral power in thought that walks alone. I would like to thank you for your great kindness, but never try to lift the words which I cannot hold."

[Lệ Lin]

3.5/5

These letters were casually writing to friends and family but it could astonish readers by revealing a pure poet at heart.

Emily Dickinson had been a mysterious individual to me before I read this book and she remains so even after I finished it. Each letter to a recipient painted a different version of her (yet still genuine) and somehow, there is still a part that I could feel she was hiding among the gaps of those letters. Emily Dickinson appeared through these letters as a private person and a genius with words. Each celebration, condolence and sympathy was distinctively written. She also used metaphors so marvellously that I had to pause and dive deeper.
It can be a good book to open at random and revisit a page or two from time to time.

This is the first title I got in the Everyman’s Library sets (specifically, the Pocket Poet Series). I am pleased with the book design so much and I hope to acquire more books from this series soon.

[tee]

this book is an imaginary garden filled with real children of spring, to quote, 'the trailing arbutus, adder's tongue, yellow violets, liver-leaf, bloodroot, and many other smaller flowers..,' i have never taken fresher breaths as i did when reading these letters.

[Jbondandrews]

The Letters of Emily Dickinson were as wonderful as her poetry.

[Black Tea Lady ☕️📚]

Emily Dickinson es una dama enigmática, romántica, sensible y que ama, ama mucho y con toda su alma, literalmente. A través de sus cartas conocemos más allá de la Emily que vivió en reclusión auto impuesta y con fiebres constantes. En sus cartas comparte sus alegrías y tristezas con sus amigos del colegio, primos, hermanos y maestros o editores. Emily fomentaba el cariño a través de sus cartas, que enviaba casi constantemente, que en visitas presenciales. Un tema recurrente es la noción de mortalidad a su alrededor. Tal ves vivir cerca de un cementerio tuvo mucho que ver con esta noción. Aunque vivir encerrada en su casa no le evitó conocer las últimas novedades del mundo literario o político. Emily leyó a George Eliot y a las hermanas Brönte, estuvo al tanto de la guerra con México en El Álamo y de los conflictos políticos entre el norte y el sur. Pero su verdadero amor eran los pequeños placeres como leer, escribir poesía, su jardín con sus flores favoritas, su perro Carlo y su correspondencia con sus favoritos. Emily murió de falla renal a los 55 años pero 2 días antes de morir, alcanzó a enviarles una última carta a sus primos que decía solamente "Called Back" firmada Emily.

[tara]

This is a beautiful book full of warm and poetic letters that I have been reading a few of every day or night for many months now, savouring it in the best way I can. I tend to love the writing in Emily’s letters more than her poetry because Emily Dickinson the person piques my interest far more than Emily Dickinson the poet. However, you can see her poetry in her letters too — when you have the soul of a poet, everything becomes poetry, and that is Emily Dickinson. I feel that letters have a way of revealing the soul more than most forms of writing and Emily’s soul certainly shines through in the way she writes to her family and friends directly. Her familiarity with grief and her warmth and affection as she writes to her loved ones about this particular subject strikes me the most, but it seems to me that whatever she writes about she has an insight and wisdom that aren’t nurtured all too often in peoples minds especially today, and I am just totally enamoured with her. Every moment spent with Emily Dickinson is a pleasure and a comfort.

[julia]

"Oh! Vinnie, it is dark and strange to think of summer afterward! How she loved the summer! The birds keep singing just the same. Oh! The thoughtless birds!"

that's my favorite line. i really enjoyed reading this though i think the choice to arrange this not chronologically but in themes did not really work for this. i got whiplash from reading old emily's letters and turning the page and reading a younger emily's letter. but emily wrote beautifully. below are some of my fave lines~

"Teach us to miss you less because the fear to miss you more haunts us all the time. We didn't care so much, once. I wish it was then, now, but you kept tightening, so it can't be stirred to-day. You didn't mean to be worse, did you? Wasn't it a mistake?"

"[...] mother said while the minister prayed, a hen with her chickens came up, and tried to fly into a window. I suppose the dead lady used to feed them, and they wanted to bid her good-by."

"You remember my ideal cat has always a huge rat in its mouth, just going out of sight—though going out of sight in itself has a peculiar harm."

[Sara Dalla Palma]

3.5

Mi sono avvicinata alla figura di Emily Dickinson grazie alla serie tv (che trovate su Apple TV): perciò l'anno scorso mi sono fatta regalare questo libro con le sue lettere.
Per quanto fossi emozionata nel leggerlo, devo dire che molte parti mi hanno annoiato e mi sono sembrate un po' ripetitive. Alcune lettere tendono, in succo, a dire le stesse cose e questo un po' annoia. E' stato, però, bellissimo scoprire la vera Emily, attraverso la sua scrittura ma soprattutto le sue passioni. Leggendo queste lettere è chiaro come Emily amasse la vita, i fiori e le persone a lei vicino e questo costante amore per tutto e tutti trapela dalle sue lettere.

[morpheus_moon☽]

It’s hard for me to give stars to and to write a specific review for this one. The content of this book is so personal and so unique that I do not dare to judge it harshly (not that I would have much to judge). Dickinson’s letters are full of emotion, compassion and love, wondrous and magical thoughts, grief and loneliness. It felt wrong to read some of the letters for ultimately, I am invading someone’s privacy by reading about snippets of their personal life which they did not specifically give permission to publish, even if they’ve long left the realm of the living. (I would love to hear some peoples’ thoughts on this matter, too - if you want to let me know what you think.)

[Marta Antelo]

Es increíble como la forma de ser de Emily Dickinson, todo el amor que guardaba y toda la sensibilidad que la caracteriza se plasma perfectamente en todas sus cartas. Me ha encantado conocerla de este modo. De todas formas, el orden de las cartas no ha sido demasiado de mi gusto; hubiese preferido que estuviesen ordenadas cronológicamente o por destinatario, con los apuntes bibliográficos más diferenciados. También he hechado en falta más cartas a Sue Gilbert (ya que solo se incluyen dos), especialmente considerando el número de cartas que le envía, en comparación con los otros destinatarios.

[Petrina Muir]

Encouraged me to write my letters in a more chatty way. I obviously don’t write as many letters as she does so it will take practice to be as unconscious as speaking to a friend. Somehow I did find it sad and quite overwhelming the amount of correspondence. It was definitely a pick up and put down book. However I may be biased on finding it sad because often her life is portrayed that way in the movies I have watched and what I know about her.

[Amber Scaife]

I have a sentimental spot in my heart for letters, so I went in already loving this collection of Dickinson's correspondence and kept on loving it throughout. The balance between candid and styled, personal and performed in published letters makes me giddy. I also love spending some time in the writer's daily life, and Emily's life is such a lovely one to visit. Recommended, for certain.

[Anjali]

These letters show that her life is as radical, endearing, playful and comedic as her poetry. It's a must-read. Also, it depicts a very intense but heartbreaking relationship between Emily and Susan. I don't mind calling their love as the greatest muse for most original and paradigm-shifting poetry this world could ever witness.

[Kim]

I found the style of writing very interesting, the difference in the way we talk now compared to the past. I love the idea of writing letters. I still love sending cards to people. I find it more personal than sending off an email or a text.

The History behind "Everyman's Library", which is who put this book out, is such a fascinating idea.

[Jenny]

I love Emily Dickinson sooo much!!! Her personality shines through her letters and poems so well I love it. This book shows that side of her SO WELL as well it's awesome. It really gives a proper insight into her life and all her relationships with people.