Gedichte

by Emily Dickinson

Rare Book

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

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.

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Reviews

[Laurel Koeniger · Rating 5 out of 5]

yes

[Cleah]

Before we talk about Dickinson, let me point out that the German translation in this is butchering the original, and I sure hope German speakers reach for another edition. Thank the gods I didn't actually need a translation but just read this edition so I read exactly the poems prescribed to my students by the Swiss education department.

Now, as to the contents - yyyyupp, still *so* not my thing. I'm not going to rate the bool as I don't enjoy and/or understand 99.9% of poetry so what do I know, but as for my general impression:

This being a collection of 130 poems published without any visible editorial work (e.g. thematic grouping) makes the contents nigh impossible to process. It also makes Dickinson's work feel very repetitive, both thematically and when it comes to her choice of imagery. Finally, at least 2/3rds of the poems are far too -- let's say impressionistic for me, to the point where they don't evoke anything but just feel like random words on paper.

I know the world loves this woman, clearly I'm the one missing something - but yeah, I'm missing it. And the idea that students for whom English is not the first language should be able to pass an oral exam that includes this is a joke. Not touching this ever again and blacklisting it in the future.