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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.
Emily Dickinson is almost as famous for her reclusive lifestyle as for her poetry. Though the extent of Dickinson’s reclusion is a matter of scholarly debate (see: Further Reading & Resources), many of her poems focus on domestic life. Part of Dickinson’s focus on the domestic sphere is likely the result of her taking care of her ailing mother. Dickinson’s father was largely unsuccessful in his many pursuits but was respected for his strong values. He was overprotective of his wife and children, and after his death, the family struggled financially due to being sheltered at home.
“There is no Frigate like a Book” engages with these struggles; books allow the poem’s speaker to be entertained and travel without leaving the protection of the home. The speaker also highlights how “frugal” (Line 7) imagined travel is compared to physical travel. The speaker’s use of the word “poor” (Line 5) might also refer to poor physical health, which is a common side-effect of isolation. The fact that one does not have to undertake a physical “[t]oll” (Line 6) to travel via poetry means that it is accessible to anyone fortunate enough to be literate.
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
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson