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Emily Dickinson Poems
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10,1830, to a prominent family of academics, lawyers, and statesmen. Following her education at Amherst Academy and Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary, Dickinson embarked on her impassioned journey as apoet. Composing first in a fairly conventional style, the poetess soon began to experiment with her writing; her frequent use of dashes, sporadic capitalization of nouns, broken meter, and idiosyncratic metaphors made her work unparalleled for its time.
Dickinson's poetry dealt not only with issues of death, faith, and immortality, but with nature, domesticity, and the power of language to transfer emotions into written text. An obsessively private writerâ??only ten of her some 1,700 poems were published during her lifetimeâ??Dickinson withdrew from social contact at the ageof 23 and devoted herself to writingin secret. It wasn't until her death in 1866 that the scope of Dickinson's work was realized, when her sister Lavinia found her prolific collection in a dresser drawer.
Since this time, Emily Dickinson's writing has had significant influences on modern American poetry; her complex use of language and form has contributed to her reputation as one of the most innovative poets of the 19thcentury. This collection of some of her finest works illustrates not only Dickinson's talent as a writer but her profound love of language, nature, and life.
Dickinson's poetry dealt not only with issues of death, faith, and immortality, but with nature, domesticity, and the power of language to transfer emotions into written text. An obsessively private writerâ??only ten of her some 1,700 poems were published during her lifetimeâ??Dickinson withdrew from social contact at the ageof 23 and devoted herself to writingin secret. It wasn't until her death in 1866 that the scope of Dickinson's work was realized, when her sister Lavinia found her prolific collection in a dresser drawer.
Since this time, Emily Dickinson's writing has had significant influences on modern American poetry; her complex use of language and form has contributed to her reputation as one of the most innovative poets of the 19thcentury. This collection of some of her finest works illustrates not only Dickinson's talent as a writer but her profound love of language, nature, and life.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published June 17, 2015
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About the author
Emily Dickinson
1,552 books6,829 followersEmily 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
January 3, 2018
I've read a fair bit of her poetry and all I can say is that it astounds me, seduces me, challenges me, enlightens me.
I can't lay claim to being any kind of expert but I love her vision, her way of seeing, her developing a highly idiosyncratic personal language that is informed by previous poetic tradition but that resolutely bends the note and pushes it forward. "Making it new" before it was cool, before they even had a name for it. I'm actually kind of hesitant to read more of her because I think I'm not ready yet...her power is exhausting and exhaustive...
October 28, 2017
Era un sabato mattino che succedeva ad una notte quasi insonne e affollata di problemi in forma di mostri invincibili, il mattino, già di per sé, con la sua alba dalle dita rosate, rischiara il nero della notte, ma può molto anche la lettura in punta di giorno di poesia in genere, la poesia ha questo potere benefico e terapeutico. nella fattispecie sono stati i versi di Emily Dickinson, tonico, balsamo che lenisce i dolori, amplifica l’essere, rinfranca il sentirsi vicini a un’anima bella e profonda come quella della poetessa americana.
Questa raccolta di poesie di Emily Dickinson, omaggiata anni or sono dal Corriere della Sera, forse non contiene il meglio della sua produzione, non mi è chiaro il criterio con cui le poesie vi sono riunite, non c’è alcun apparato critico (non che sia necessario perché le liriche sono di immediato impatto), né mi permetto di disquisire sulla bontà della traduzione.
Lo considero comunque un assaggio della sua sterminata produzione, lei che versificò più di 1700 poesie quasi 80 all’anno, tutte senza titolo, mai pubblicate in vita per una ritrosia che sempre la contraddistinse.
Emily è una creatura selvatica, solitaria, ribelle nella sua decisione di non mettere più piede fuori casa e di trascorrere tutta una vita chiusa in una stanza, ribelle nella sua passione di poetessa che non lasciò posto ad alcuna altra attività, insubordinata anche nell’abbigliamento sempre e soltanto di bianco vestita, non viaggiò mai, limitando il suo orizzonte visivo al giardino della residenza di famiglia.
Tutto questo non le impedì di far librare la sua fantasia innalzando versi bellissimi oltre lo spicchio di cielo che vedeva al di là delle finestre della sua camera, rincorrendo e cogliendo l’anelito di infinito che provò a di racchiudere dentro la gabbia di brevi poesie, tentò di penetrare l’enigma della morte, cercò di scacciare il cuore di tenebra della disperazione, ma pure, in un multiformismo sorprendente, abbassò i suoi temi cantando l’economia della vita quotidiana e domestica: un ragno che tesse il suo gomitolo d’argento, la vita di un filo d erba che segue il suo ciclo fino a diventare fieno, il volo dell’ape, le stagioni, la natura.
Leggere, leggere poesia, costa meno di un antidepressivo, di un ricostituente chimico, meno di un pacchetto di sigarette, molto, molto meno di un’ora da uno psicoanalista, e soprattutto non ha mai, mai controindicazioni né effetti collaterali, forse l’unico quello di provare a farci toccare con un dito l’eternità per poi farci ripiombare con un tonfo sul nudo e duro pavimento della realtà.
Se più non fossi viva
Quando verranno i pettirossi,
Date a quello con la cravatta rossa
Per ricordo una briciola.
Se non potessi ringraziarvi
Perché immersa nel bel sonno,
Sappiate che mi sforzo
Con le mie labbra di granito
.....................
Ciò che temevo venne,
Ma meno spaventoso,
Perché il lungo timore
L'aveva quasi abbellito.
Ci si abitua all'angoscia,
Alla disperazione.
Peggio saper che viene
Che saperla presente.
Chi indossa la sua pena
Il mattino che è nuova
Soffre più che a portarla
Un'intera esistenza.
..........
L’incertezza è più ostile della morte.
la morte, anche se vasta,
è soltanto la morte e non può crescere.
all’incertezza invece non v’è limite,
perisce per risorgere
e morire di nuovo,
è l’unione del Nulla
con l’Immortalità
Questa raccolta di poesie di Emily Dickinson, omaggiata anni or sono dal Corriere della Sera, forse non contiene il meglio della sua produzione, non mi è chiaro il criterio con cui le poesie vi sono riunite, non c’è alcun apparato critico (non che sia necessario perché le liriche sono di immediato impatto), né mi permetto di disquisire sulla bontà della traduzione.
Lo considero comunque un assaggio della sua sterminata produzione, lei che versificò più di 1700 poesie quasi 80 all’anno, tutte senza titolo, mai pubblicate in vita per una ritrosia che sempre la contraddistinse.
Emily è una creatura selvatica, solitaria, ribelle nella sua decisione di non mettere più piede fuori casa e di trascorrere tutta una vita chiusa in una stanza, ribelle nella sua passione di poetessa che non lasciò posto ad alcuna altra attività, insubordinata anche nell’abbigliamento sempre e soltanto di bianco vestita, non viaggiò mai, limitando il suo orizzonte visivo al giardino della residenza di famiglia.
Tutto questo non le impedì di far librare la sua fantasia innalzando versi bellissimi oltre lo spicchio di cielo che vedeva al di là delle finestre della sua camera, rincorrendo e cogliendo l’anelito di infinito che provò a di racchiudere dentro la gabbia di brevi poesie, tentò di penetrare l’enigma della morte, cercò di scacciare il cuore di tenebra della disperazione, ma pure, in un multiformismo sorprendente, abbassò i suoi temi cantando l’economia della vita quotidiana e domestica: un ragno che tesse il suo gomitolo d’argento, la vita di un filo d erba che segue il suo ciclo fino a diventare fieno, il volo dell’ape, le stagioni, la natura.
Leggere, leggere poesia, costa meno di un antidepressivo, di un ricostituente chimico, meno di un pacchetto di sigarette, molto, molto meno di un’ora da uno psicoanalista, e soprattutto non ha mai, mai controindicazioni né effetti collaterali, forse l’unico quello di provare a farci toccare con un dito l’eternità per poi farci ripiombare con un tonfo sul nudo e duro pavimento della realtà.
Se più non fossi viva
Quando verranno i pettirossi,
Date a quello con la cravatta rossa
Per ricordo una briciola.
Se non potessi ringraziarvi
Perché immersa nel bel sonno,
Sappiate che mi sforzo
Con le mie labbra di granito
.....................
Ciò che temevo venne,
Ma meno spaventoso,
Perché il lungo timore
L'aveva quasi abbellito.
Ci si abitua all'angoscia,
Alla disperazione.
Peggio saper che viene
Che saperla presente.
Chi indossa la sua pena
Il mattino che è nuova
Soffre più che a portarla
Un'intera esistenza.
..........
L’incertezza è più ostile della morte.
la morte, anche se vasta,
è soltanto la morte e non può crescere.
all’incertezza invece non v’è limite,
perisce per risorgere
e morire di nuovo,
è l’unione del Nulla
con l’Immortalità
September 2, 2020
Have you heard poems put to music? I guess that describes all vocal music, but what I mean is poetry that was written as such, later used as a basis for a musical composition. It can be wonderful. Last winter while I was doing Meals On Wheels deliveries, I heard a series of songs on the local NPR station that were Emily Dickinson poems, put to music by Aaron Copland. Wow. Pretty special. If you aren't familiar with it, search "Copland: Eight Poems by Emily Dickinson" on YouTube.
Here are a few of my favorite poems from this book:
A little snow was here and there
Disseminated in her Hair -
Since she and I had met and played
Decade had gathered to Decade -
But Time had not added not obtained
Impregnable the Rose
For summer too indelible
Too obdurate for Snows
_______________________
The Birds begun at Four o'clock
Their period for Dawn -
A Music numerous as space -
But neighboring as Noon
I could not count their Force -
Their Voices did expend
As Brook by Brook bestows itself
To multiply the Pond.
Their Witnesses were not -
Except occasional man -
In homely industry arrayed -
To overtake the Morn -
Nor was it for applause -
That I could ascertain -
But independent Ecstasy
Of Deity and Men -
________________________
How lonesome the Wind must feel Nights -
When people have put out the lights
And everything that has an Inn
Closes the shutter and goes in -
How pompous the Wind must feel Noons
Stepping to incorporeal Tunes
Correcting errors of the sky
And clarifying scenery
How mighty the Wind must feel Morns
Encamping on a thousand dawns
Espousing each and spurning all
Then soaring to his Temple Tall -
_____________________________
It ceased to hurt me, though so slow
I could not feel the Anguish go -
But only knew by looking back -
That something - had benumbed the Track -
Nor when it altered, I could say,
For I had worn it, every day,
As constant as the Childish frock -
I hung upon the Peg, at night.
But not the Grief - that nestled close
As needles - ladies softly press
To Cushions Cheeks -
To keep their place -
Nor what consoled it, I could trace -
Except, whereas 'twas Wilderness -
It's better - almost Peace -
I probably read a book of poetry less than once a year. I'm not qualified to critique it. After learning more about Dickinson on Wikipedia, she seems to me to be a woman of great mystery. She was quite reclusive. Her life (1830-86) was a mystery to people in her town of Amherst, Massachusetts, and her poems remained largely unpublished while she lived. And her poems show that she looked at many things in life, and certainly death, with a deep sense of awe and mystery.
Here are a few of my favorite poems from this book:
A little snow was here and there
Disseminated in her Hair -
Since she and I had met and played
Decade had gathered to Decade -
But Time had not added not obtained
Impregnable the Rose
For summer too indelible
Too obdurate for Snows
_______________________
The Birds begun at Four o'clock
Their period for Dawn -
A Music numerous as space -
But neighboring as Noon
I could not count their Force -
Their Voices did expend
As Brook by Brook bestows itself
To multiply the Pond.
Their Witnesses were not -
Except occasional man -
In homely industry arrayed -
To overtake the Morn -
Nor was it for applause -
That I could ascertain -
But independent Ecstasy
Of Deity and Men -
________________________
How lonesome the Wind must feel Nights -
When people have put out the lights
And everything that has an Inn
Closes the shutter and goes in -
How pompous the Wind must feel Noons
Stepping to incorporeal Tunes
Correcting errors of the sky
And clarifying scenery
How mighty the Wind must feel Morns
Encamping on a thousand dawns
Espousing each and spurning all
Then soaring to his Temple Tall -
_____________________________
It ceased to hurt me, though so slow
I could not feel the Anguish go -
But only knew by looking back -
That something - had benumbed the Track -
Nor when it altered, I could say,
For I had worn it, every day,
As constant as the Childish frock -
I hung upon the Peg, at night.
But not the Grief - that nestled close
As needles - ladies softly press
To Cushions Cheeks -
To keep their place -
Nor what consoled it, I could trace -
Except, whereas 'twas Wilderness -
It's better - almost Peace -
I probably read a book of poetry less than once a year. I'm not qualified to critique it. After learning more about Dickinson on Wikipedia, she seems to me to be a woman of great mystery. She was quite reclusive. Her life (1830-86) was a mystery to people in her town of Amherst, Massachusetts, and her poems remained largely unpublished while she lived. And her poems show that she looked at many things in life, and certainly death, with a deep sense of awe and mystery.
July 21, 2024
I wanted to love this book but I found it to be more boring and less engaging that I thought it would be.
February 6, 2017
I just love Emily. So many beautiful poems. Her love of nature makes me want to spend every waking minute outside and her poems on death and eternity are some of the greatest I've ever read.
November 26, 2021
Iz sjećanja pobjeći
Kad bismo Krila imali
Mnogi bi letjeli
Naviknute na sporije stvari
S čuđenjem bi Ptice
Gledale preplašene prethodnice
Ljúdi što bježe
Iz ljudskoga uma
Kad bismo Krila imali
Mnogi bi letjeli
Naviknute na sporije stvari
S čuđenjem bi Ptice
Gledale preplašene prethodnice
Ljúdi što bježe
Iz ljudskoga uma
August 12, 2023
The only reason I got this book was because I didn't know what else to buy with a gift card and it was a beautiful Barnes and Noble edition. I'm very glad I got it. I am not a poetry person whatsoever, so I was pleasantly surprised to actually enjoy some of these poems. I was not, however, surprised to find myself uninterested in poems I failed to understand. That's just my short attention span when it comes to big, complicated words, especially when too many are used in one sentence. There's an obvious theme to her work, which is what I really found interesting. Death, Life, Afterlife, Grief. There was some serious stuff going on in this woman's head.
January 17, 2025
Read an Italian/English version so I got to “read” each poem twice and brush up on my Italian!
“I’m not used to Hope
It might intrude upon
It’s sweet parade-blaspheme the place-
Ordained to Suffering.” -405
“If all the griefs I am to have
Would only come today,
I am so happy I believe
They’d laugh and run away.
If all the joys I am to have
Would only come today,
They could not be so big as this
That happens to me now.” -1726
“There is not frigate like a boat
To take us lands away!”
“I’m not used to Hope
It might intrude upon
It’s sweet parade-blaspheme the place-
Ordained to Suffering.” -405
“If all the griefs I am to have
Would only come today,
I am so happy I believe
They’d laugh and run away.
If all the joys I am to have
Would only come today,
They could not be so big as this
That happens to me now.” -1726
“There is not frigate like a boat
To take us lands away!”
Read
March 31, 2024I was only passingly familiar with Dickinson's work, and wanted to rectify that. My tastes in poetry veer more towards Mary Oliver, e e cummings, and Pablo Neruda, so this was a pretty big departure, but a very welcome one. Stripped down, thoughtful, earnest, and lovely.
April 4, 2025
Great set of poems on a wide variety of topics. Poems about nature, life, love, death, isolation, etc. lots of personification which I’m a huge fan of. There’s a poem or two in here that I think will speak to everyone!
April 30, 2023
One of America’s greatest poets. I’ve read & re-read her poems many times. Her originality & focus on nature are my favorite. She also writes a lot regarding spiritualism.
October 11, 2023
great selection of Emily Dickinson's poems <3
December 4, 2023
Serial o autorce porwał mnie bardziej…trochę szkoda, ale niewiele wierszy do mnie trafiło 2,75⭐️
October 6, 2024
Been in a reading dry spell lately and needed some perfect poetry to pull me from the slumps but Emily never ceases to amaze me; I never felt like I related to anyone like I do Emily ❤️
November 4, 2024
This is one of those head-scratching moments when I realize that I don't like the poetry of a woman considered one of the great American poets. Granted, this was a book of her early poems (the first 3 or 4 years) and she may have developed as a writer, but I was a disappointed reader.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2024
i love lesbians
December 12, 2011
I am just past halfway and I really just want to give up on this for two reasons.
1. I don't particularly like Dickinson's poetry. Her nonstandard grammar makes it difficult to understand what she's on about. Out of 100s of poems, so far I have liked four. And one of those was only because it evoked ancient Chinese erotic poetry, if it was poorly translated, but then it is hard to write about bees visiting flowers without doing so [added: being erotic, that is].
2. The book itself. The book is clearly a cheap imprint. I got it for free as a donation. Physically--binding, paper, margins, type, etc.--it is pretty good. But intellectual content is where they skimped. There is no introduction to explain the dating and groupings of the poems, nor to explain her style, or anything else to contextualize and situate Dickinson's poetry. What little I do (now) know I found via Wikipedia. There are also typos and misspellings in the poems themselves. I have come across several "to"s which should have been "too"s. If that is, in fact, how Dickinson spelled them then, again, where is the contextual matter explaining that. I finally gave up--but for now have recanted--with "Fringed Gentian" where we have the line "And summer his her forehead,". I had to do an internet search to discover that it ought be "And summer hit her forehead,". Just a small difference. One which actually makes the poem intelligible. But it leaves me wondering how much else of my problem with Dickinson's poetry stems from the shoddy intellectual work done for this edition.
I had intended to simply give up for now and perhaps revisit Dickinson in the future when I might be readier to receive her and, also, with a proper edition of her work.
12 December 2011 - I have finally finished this book. I could complain again about the prolific number of typos, and lack of added intellectual content, situating of the poems and/or Dickinson, etc. but I think I'll let the above suffice.
1. I don't particularly like Dickinson's poetry. Her nonstandard grammar makes it difficult to understand what she's on about. Out of 100s of poems, so far I have liked four. And one of those was only because it evoked ancient Chinese erotic poetry, if it was poorly translated, but then it is hard to write about bees visiting flowers without doing so [added: being erotic, that is].
2. The book itself. The book is clearly a cheap imprint. I got it for free as a donation. Physically--binding, paper, margins, type, etc.--it is pretty good. But intellectual content is where they skimped. There is no introduction to explain the dating and groupings of the poems, nor to explain her style, or anything else to contextualize and situate Dickinson's poetry. What little I do (now) know I found via Wikipedia. There are also typos and misspellings in the poems themselves. I have come across several "to"s which should have been "too"s. If that is, in fact, how Dickinson spelled them then, again, where is the contextual matter explaining that. I finally gave up--but for now have recanted--with "Fringed Gentian" where we have the line "And summer his her forehead,". I had to do an internet search to discover that it ought be "And summer hit her forehead,". Just a small difference. One which actually makes the poem intelligible. But it leaves me wondering how much else of my problem with Dickinson's poetry stems from the shoddy intellectual work done for this edition.
I had intended to simply give up for now and perhaps revisit Dickinson in the future when I might be readier to receive her and, also, with a proper edition of her work.
12 December 2011 - I have finally finished this book. I could complain again about the prolific number of typos, and lack of added intellectual content, situating of the poems and/or Dickinson, etc. but I think I'll let the above suffice.
September 14, 2011
Full disclaimer- I really can't properly review poetry. Mainly because I suck at scansion and meter. Language, I'm good with, but everything else...not so much.
That out of the way, I do quite like Dickinson. This is a fairly comprehensive collection, covering three years of writing (1890, 1891, and 1896), and grouped into her four most prevalent subjects. There's a definite change in the tone of her poems from the 1890 section to 1896, and with the majority of topics (particularly anything in the Life and Eternity sections), there's a much darker tone and worldview in her writing. Of the four groupings, I really wasn't fond of the Nature poems- they were nice, but they got a little tedious and flowery (heh) for my tastes. To paraphrase Pratchett, "Apparently, the poet had liked [the garden] very much." I liked the Life and Eternity sections, pretty much because my tastes run toward the darker side. And also, I liked the collection because there's such a wide range of her poetry included here. (Because, let's be honest, "I'm nobody!" and "Because I couldn't stop for Death..." got really old the third time I had to read it for school.) It's not a bad collection, and I would recommend reading it just to get another side of Dickinson other than what gets read in school.
That out of the way, I do quite like Dickinson. This is a fairly comprehensive collection, covering three years of writing (1890, 1891, and 1896), and grouped into her four most prevalent subjects. There's a definite change in the tone of her poems from the 1890 section to 1896, and with the majority of topics (particularly anything in the Life and Eternity sections), there's a much darker tone and worldview in her writing. Of the four groupings, I really wasn't fond of the Nature poems- they were nice, but they got a little tedious and flowery (heh) for my tastes. To paraphrase Pratchett, "Apparently, the poet had liked [the garden] very much." I liked the Life and Eternity sections, pretty much because my tastes run toward the darker side. And also, I liked the collection because there's such a wide range of her poetry included here. (Because, let's be honest, "I'm nobody!" and "Because I couldn't stop for Death..." got really old the third time I had to read it for school.) It's not a bad collection, and I would recommend reading it just to get another side of Dickinson other than what gets read in school.
March 1, 2014
I picked Emily Dickinson Poems up thinking I should study Dickinson's work. I'm fairly certain I read some of her poems in high school and/or college, but I'm not sure. Anyway, as with any should, this book sat in my to-be-read pile for a really long time. Occasionally, I'd pick it up and read a poem or two and then put it back. It was that should that kept getting in the way. Finally, I decided it was time to read these poems. I planned to read a couple each night before going to sleep. Most nights I decided to read "just two more" when I finished my planned reading for the night. Dickinson evokes a lot of emotion in her writing even when her poems aren't particularly clear as to whether they're meant literally or symbolically. Often, the poems left me conflicted between two potential messages as the wording felt open to interpretation. Notes of depression float beside appreciation for nature wrapped up in religious ideology in Dickinson's poetry. A book well worth reading, especially for anyone interested in exploring why Dickinson is so highly regarded among poets.
September 7, 2016
I was kind of glad to get this book over and done with. For me it just wasn't a wise choice for a beginner read in Poetry. I did find several that I like and even copied them down but mostly I found it very hard to read. She stretched words to fit a rhyme that just don't, and maybe her style was an era thing, I just don't get a lot of it, not to say I didn't understand what the point of her poem was about but that it was distracting or just...like I said hard for me to read. I need to start over with someone else and then maybe I can come back to this and have a better appreciation.
October 27, 2008
The best Emily Dickinson book of poetry I have come across, yet. This is a 6 x 9 inch hardcover I picked up in the Bargain Bin at Waldenbooks! Nice crisp, white pages. Poems well spaced out. Love it!
Separated into years:
1. Poems of 1890
2. Poems of 1891
3. Poems of 1896
Each year is further broken down:
Book I: Life
Book II: Love
Book III: Nature
Book IV: Time and Eternity
Well designed. Pretty! Not too heavy to hold. ;-)
Separated into years:
1. Poems of 1890
2. Poems of 1891
3. Poems of 1896
Each year is further broken down:
Book I: Life
Book II: Love
Book III: Nature
Book IV: Time and Eternity
Well designed. Pretty! Not too heavy to hold. ;-)
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September 27, 2016ثروت حقیقی - آنچه که در ژرفای روح ما ست تنها با کمک آینه ای که در دستان امیلی دیکنسون و کریستین بوبن هست قابل کشف است. امیلی دیکنسون زن باریک اندام و خاموشی است نادیدنی مثل گل سپید کوچکی که میان علف ها پنهان است و هیچ کس او را نمی بیند جز آن که رایحه او را از شعرهایش استشمام کنید. - دیدنی نیست - کشف کردنی است مثل زیبایی - نفس زیبایی نه چیزهای زیبا !
May 15, 2009
Delivered from agony's throes in New England, I hope she's finally enjoying her Imortailty in the sky. My favorite poems are her short, witty ones:
"Faith" is a fine invention
When Gentlemen can see--
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.
"Faith" is a fine invention
When Gentlemen can see--
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.
January 6, 2011
I've had this book for about 10 years now and I usually have it with me or nearby. I love Dickinson - I love how direct she can speak about a topic by leaving a blank space. This collection of her works is special, and includes some of her personal letters. Such a fan.
December 13, 2014
So many of these poems are five star poems but some (I'm looking at you nature poems) are kind of tedious. Also the collection breaks them up by theme so that probably didn't help. Dickinson is a genius though so four stars.
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April 17, 2011None
April 18, 2011
Death
Spring/Bees
Jesus
Spring/Bees
Jesus
June 14, 2011
I used to hate Emily Dickinson in high school with all her dashes and funerals in her brain. I still don't prefer her, but now I can understand and appreciate her work better.
January 31, 2014
I read poetry on and off and have come back and read some by Emily Dickinson before and liked them.
January 5, 2018
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This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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