Emily Dickinson: Transcendentalist Experience Through Imagination

Personification is the attribution of human characteristics to something inhuman. Humankind, since the beginning, has had a desire to personify the world around them. From weather to water, humans have created legends, poems, and stories that talk about nature in a positively human way. The wind whistles, the ship groans, the firecracker screams; these are all examples of how humans personify the world around them. Even after all this time, since the beginning, human beings still persist in this.

Emily Dickinson was one of the best American poets, but she is very famous for being a secluded writer. Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1846 in Amherst, Massachusetts and she died on May 15, 1886 at the age of 55 in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her isolation from the outside world still confuses literary critics and readers of her poetry and letters. There are many theories developed over time about her seclusion. Some people believe her secluded way of life was her own choice but she was very close to her family. Emily Dickinson lived in a happy home and went to a school during her life. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1830 and lived there all her life most of her life. An introduction into Emily Dickinson’s poetry themes, and discussion about the isolation in her life, and discussion about the isolation in her poetry will be examined in the paper.

There are six senses in total and these are known as languages of the mind, or ‘modalities’. These are Sight, hearing, feeling, smell and taste, although the last two can be put into the ‘feeling’ category. We use all of our senses in a particular situation but all of us will have a favourite which we are more comfortable with and are likely to fall back on in times of crisis. (Chrysalis pg. 4)

Emily Dickinson was one of the best American poets, but she is very famous for being a secluded writer. Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1846 in Amherst, Massachusetts and she died on May 15, 1886 at the age of 55 in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her isolation from the outside world still confuses literary critics and readers of her poetry and letters. There are many theories developed over time about her seclusion. Some people believe her secluded way of life was her own choice but she was very close to her family. Emily Dickinson lived in a happy home and went to a school during her life. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1830 and lived there all her life most of her life. An introduction into Emily Dickinson’s poetry themes, and discussion about the isolation in her life, and discussion about the isolation in her poetry will be examined in the paper.

The late psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross said: “The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.” This inspirational quote suggests that adversity provides people with new opportunities and can drive people to improve their life. Adversity comes in numerous forms, such as emotional, physical, and financial. Individuals have a choice to learn from adversity or allow it to break their character. However, certain types of adversity, such as severe chronic conditions or diseases, do little to improve character and the human condition. Thus, all types of adversity, pain, and suffering are not beneficial, however, most work to improve an

Although Emily Dickinson was born towards the end of the Transcendentalist movement in 1830, her views later in life, specifically those concerning women’s right and religion, align nicely with the previous wave of new thought (“Emily Dickinson’s Life”). Transcendentalism encouraged individualism and pushed for self-reliance. The movement also spoke loudly for feminism, abolition, reform, and education while resisting government, religion, and laws (“American Philosophy”). For Emily Dickinson, part of what made her so similar to Transcendentalists is the fact that she possessed an impressive imagination that she allows to shine in her poetry (“Emily Dickinson’s Life”). Considering that the movement created a mindset

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson is one of the best poets in America. She is known for her uncommon way of writing poetry. There was a great deal of problems going on in her life. She spent mostly her entire life living in her home and only left unless she needed to do so. Unlike other poets, she did not have any order to her writings. She just wrote what she was feeling. Her work was anonymously published and later became known after her death.

“Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson shows contradiction by showing that Death is something that we should look forward to instead of being afraid of. Dickinson uses personification by describing death as a nice person. “ Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me.” The first two lines state that she could not stop for death meaning that the she didn't have a choice about when she was to die, but while death is a kind person, the speaker is okay with dying. Death is driving her in a carriage, showing her a wonderful school whilst the children are playing at recess, and passing field “ Grazing Grain”, showing her wonderful things about life.

Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous American poets. She wrote many poems throughout her lifetime, but it was not until after her death that she became famous. She wrote about death and life, love and separation, and God. She wrote about topics like these because she was inspired by the experiences in her life. Throughout her life, she dealt with problems that caused her to seclude herself, wear only a while dress, and write poems. Many have questioned what caused her seclusion? What happened that was so devastating to make her want to be alone all the time? Why did she always wear white?

Let’s play a game. Close your eyes. Now, think of some of your favorite poems. Can you remember the poets who created them? Did you name off Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, and Robert Frost to name a few? I imagine that the majority of people didn’t remember Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson was a talented poet who used her previously devastating personal experiences to enhance her poems.

There is a lot more to poetry than just the words themselves. “What William Shakespeare called, “the mind’s eye” also plays a role” (Borus34). What that means is that your experiences and thoughts will add to your understanding. Dickinson had an active mind and a style so unique and unusual with her writing. Something that was very unusual about her writing was that she never put a title to her poems. Just like many poets, she used a wide assortment of literary devices such as, metaphor, simile, alliteration, and symbolism. “Unlike many writers of her time, Dickinson did not use conventional rhyme, capitalization, or punctuation” (Borus36). For example, she would put dashes not just at the end of a line, but also

In the poem, Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson, she writes, “Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves and Immortality.” (Stanza 1). This conveys how Emily had come upon her time of death, and the Grim Reaper arrived to take her away on a carriage to death. This is important to note because it’s figurative meaning determines that Dickinson made the grim reaper seem more of a companion or real concept that takes her to her new destination, instead of a scary, and vile figure that snatches her life away, because she feels accepting of her death. In the fourth stanza, Dickinson states, “We paused before a house that seemed a swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, the cornice but a mound.”

One of Emily’s Dickinson’s amazing gifts as a poet was her ability to write her poems

According to the author, «Emily Dickinson tells the story of soldiers dying and survivors mourning in a series of fascinating snapshots ...» In fact number of Dickinson’s poems was written during the Civil war in the US, and even in those poems where war conflict was not expressly described, it can be found by considering these works in a wider context. During the article, the author quotes other scholars of Dickinson work by the meaning of war in the image of her poems. The manner of war poems writing on author's opinion is quite different and varies from emotional pain to the elegy and dramatic poetry, but in any case such poems are full of deep meaning. Dickinson’s poems that were analyzed in the article are oriented to the prospective of

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born December 10, 1830, into an influential family in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her father helped found Amherst College, where Emily later attended between 1840 and 1846. She never married and died in the house where she was born on May 15, 1886.