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Emily DickinsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
As detailed in the biography section of this guide, Emily Dickinson retreated from social life around 1858. A closer look at the socio-historical context in which Dickinson studied and wrote provides some additional insight into what may have inspired her work. Some scholars trace Dickinson’s reclusive tendencies to the homesickness she expresses in her letters written while at Mount Holyoke Seminary. Dickinson’s father has been described as “domineering,” which may have contributed to her sense of isolation.
While critics have posthumously hailed Dickinson as a poetic genius, during her lifetime, Dickinson infrequently shared her poems and did so mostly with close acquaintances or family members. As one source explains, “She never married, despite several romantic correspondences, and was better-known as a gardener than as a poet while she was alive” (“A Short Analysis of Emily Dickinson’s ‘Success is Counted Sweetest.” Interesting Literature. 2022). Dickinson was aware of the restrictions society placed upon her as a young woman in the 19th century. As Poetry Foundation explains, upon leaving schools, “unmarried daughters were indeed expected to demonstrate their dutiful nature by setting aside their own interests in order to meet the needs of the home” (“
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird, came down the Walk
Emily Dickinson
A Clock stopped—
Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
Emily Dickinson
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
Emily Dickinson
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Emily Dickinson
Hope is a strange invention
Emily Dickinson
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
Emily Dickinson
I Can Wade Grief
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
Emily Dickinson
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I should die
Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the fall
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Emily Dickinson
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson
There is no Frigate like a Book
Emily Dickinson