Timeline
Title
Country/Nationality
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Little known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst.
Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, to even leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most friendships between her and others depended entirely upon correspondence.
While Dickinson was a prolific writer, her only publications during her lifetime were 10 of her nearly 1,800 poems, and one letter. The poems published then were usually edited significantly to fit conventional poetic rules. Her poems were unique for her era. 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, and also explore aesthetics, society, nature and spirituality.
Although Dickinson's acquaintances were most likely aware of her writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Dickinson's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that her work became public. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, though both heavily edited the content. A 1998 New York Times article revealed that of the many edits made to Dickinson's work, the name "Susan" was often deliberately removed. At least eleven of Dickinson's poems were dedicated to sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson, though all the dedications were obliterated, presumably by Todd. A complete, and mostly unaltered, collection of her poetry became available for the first time when scholar Thomas H. Johnson published The Poems of Emily Dickinson in 1955.
Books by Emily Dickinson
Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson has come to be regarded as one of the quintessential poets of 19th century America. A very private poet with a very quiet and reclusive life, her poetry was published posthumously and immediately found a wide audience.
Poems: Series One
Renowned poet Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886) wrote many many poems. This collection, "Poems: Series One", presents the first installment of the complete poetic works of Miss Emily Dickinson. It is broken into four parts: Life, Love, Nature, and Time a...
Poems: Series Two
"The eagerness with which the first volume of Emily Dickinson's poems has been read shows very clearly that all our alleged modern artificiality does not prevent a prompt appreciation of the qualities of directness and simplicity in approaching the g...
Emily Dickinson on Death
Emily Dickinson is one of the most intriguing of American poets. Since she grew increasingly reclusive, very few of her poems were published until after her death. This collection includes two letters Dickinson wrote to her friends on the occasion of...
Life: Poem XXI A Book
Poem XXI: "A Book", read by the wonderful podcasters at the Podcasters Across Borders 2006 conference, in Kingston, Ontario, June 23-24, 2006.
I'm Nobody
LibriVox volunteers bring you 17 different recordings of I’m Nobody, by Emily Dickinson. Dickinson’s text of this poem contains two possible versions of it. There is a great deal of discussion among academics as to which she preferred. Only one versi...
One day is there of the series
LibriVox volunteers bring you 6 different recordings of One day is there of the series by Emily Dickinson. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of November 25th, 2007.
Word Is Dead
LibriVox volunteers bring you 20 different recordings of A Word Is Dead, by Emily Dickinson. This was the weekly poetry for the week of July 06, 2008.
Summer Shower
LibriVox volunteers bring you 13 recordings of Summer Shower by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for January 10th, 2010.
If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking
LibriVox volunteers bring you 12 recordings of If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for June 27th, 2010.
Railway Train
LibriVox volunteers bring you 16 recordings of The Railway Train by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 28, 2011.Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were publ...
I Stepped from Plank to Plank
LibriVox volunteers bring you 13 recordings of I Stepped from Plank to Plank by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for August 21, 2011.Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful fa...
Safe in their Alabaster Chambers
LibriVox volunteers bring you 18 recordings of Safe in their Alabaster Chambers by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 6, 2012.Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred p...
Lovers
LibriVox volunteers bring you 27 recordings of The Lovers by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 27, 2012.The verses of Emily Dickinson belong emphatically to what Emerson long since called "the Poetry of the Portfolio,"—somet...
She sweeps with many-colored Brooms
LibriVox volunteers bring you 11 recordings of She sweeps with many-colored Brooms by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 24, 2013.Dickinson was a prolific private poet, but fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundr...
Because I Could Not Stop For Death
LibriVox volunteers bring you 15 recordings of Because I Could Not Stop For Death by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 12, 2013.Despite Dickinson's prolific writing, fewer than a dozen of her poems were published during her...
Mother Nature (Dickinson)
LibriVox volunteers bring you 8 recordings of Mother Nature by Emily Dickinson. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for June 3, 2013While Emily Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were pu...
Troubled About Many Things
The verses of Emily Dickinson belong emphatically to what Emerson long since called "the Poetry of the Portfolio,"—something produced absolutely without the thought of publication, and solely by way of expression of the writer's own mind. A recluse...
Grass
LibriVox volunteers bring you 17 recordings of The Grass by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for August 4, 2019. ------ The verses of Emily Dickinson belong emphatically to what Emerson long since called "the Poetry of the Portf...
Thunder-Storm
LibriVox volunteers bring you 15 recordings of A Thunder-Storm by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for October 6, 2019. ------ A tribute to autumn storms. - Summary by David Lawrence
Sleep Is Supposed To Be
LibriVox volunteers bring you 26 recordings of Sleep Is Supposed To Be by Emily Dickinson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 31, 2020. ------ A description of sleep according to Emily Dickinson. - Summary by David Lawrence
Lonely House
LibriVox volunteers bring you 21 recordings of The Lonely House by Emily Dickinson. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for October 11, 2020. ------ The Lonely House seems a good prelude to Halloween. - Summary by David Lawrence
In Vain
LibriVox volunteers bring you 16 recordings of In Vain by Emily Dickinson.. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for December 27, 2020. ------ Taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Series One by Emily Dickinson - Summary by David Lawrence
Showing 1 to 24 of 26 results