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Acts of Light : Emily Dickinson
A collection of eighty poems by the 19th-century poet accompanied by paintings and drawings.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
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About the author
Emily Dickinson
1,555 books6,894 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 28, 2018
Here's a brilliant pairing: Emily Dickinson and Nancy Burkert. Burkert brings Dickinson's quicksilver poems to visual life brilliantly. I could stare for hours into the heart of the chrysanthemum on the cover. Such a beauty!
December 11, 2020
I have been fascinated by Emily Dickinson’s life and poetry since I learned about her in school many years ago. This book begins with a biography of sorts, but it seemed to me that the writer was adding a lot of her own opinions on Emily’s motivations and it turned me off. However, I did enjoy the artwork scattered throughout the book! The poetry was a challenge for me to understand so this book took me a while to get through. I suppose a challenge is a good thing haha but it sure did feel over my head most of the time.
October 24, 2024
possibly one of my favourite emily dickinson collections…
June 20, 2025
The first third of this book is biographical. The only surprise about her life was I didn't realize Emily Dickinson had romantic relationships. I like her poetry overall.
November 2, 2023
I’m coming to accept that poetry is just not for me. I’ve been trying, but I just can’t seem to make it stick. As far as the content here, I will say that I disliked the overt Christianity, but even more so, those infuriating dashes.
It's so ugly to end your thought with a dash—
It ruins any flow
And it’s difficult—
To try— and parse—sentences
that look like this—
P.S. Also, why were the first 45 pages an introduction?
It’s outrageous in a collection this short, it’s essentially 30% — of the whole—book—
It's so ugly to end your thought with a dash—
It ruins any flow
And it’s difficult—
To try— and parse—sentences
that look like this—
P.S. Also, why were the first 45 pages an introduction?
It’s outrageous in a collection this short, it’s essentially 30% — of the whole—book—
March 24, 2020
I dunno. None of these poems resonate with me at all. Maybe my brain just isn’t sophisticated enough but I could barely comprehend most of them.
September 30, 2012
I very much enjoyed the biographical information and insight about Emily Dickinson supplied by Jane Langton--so much so, that I've been wishing I could travel to Amherst, Massachusetts and visit her home. The insight into her personality and life helped me greatly to understand her poetry better. Delightful!
February 6, 2016
I found the essay rather fragmented and some of the interpretations of the poems, uh, subjective to say the least. I also dislike when biography isn't linear and I did find the lack of detailed footnotes highly irritating. However, I love Dickinson and Burkert so it was a nice little book to spend time with.
January 6, 2009
Turns out that I don't really care for Emily Dickinson's poetry. The book was very pretty though. Nice colored pencil illustrations (if slightly 80's) and big, beautiful margins.
July 20, 2011
Beautiful poetry and some biography of Dickinson's life.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews