Emily Dickinson

American poet of the nineteenth century, known for short lyric poems on death, nature, and the self, written in a distinctive compressed style. Biography ↓More ↓

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Emily Dickinson

We talked as Girls do --

We talked as Girls do -- Fond, and late -- We speculated fair, on every subject, but the Grave -- Of ours, none affair -- We handled Destinies, as cool -- As we -- Disposers -- be -- And God, a Quiet Party To our Authority -- But fondest, dwelt upon Ourself As we eventual -- be -- When Girls to Women, softly raised We -- occupy -- Degree -- We parted with a contract To cherish, and to write But Heaven made both, impossible Before another night.

Emily Dickinson

I learned -- at least -- what Home could be --

I learned -- at least -- what Home could be -- How ignorant I had been Of pretty ways of Covenant -- How awkward at the Hymn Round our new Fireside -- but for this -- This pattern -- of the Way -- Whose Memory drowns me, like the Dip Of a Celestial Sea -- What Mornings in our Garden -- guessed -- What Bees -- for us -- to hum -- With only Birds to interrupt The Ripple of our Theme -- And Task for Both -- When Play be done -- Your Problem -- of the Brain -- And mine -- some foolisher effect --

Biography

An American poet who spent most of her life in Amherst, Massachusetts, leading a reclusive existence. She composed nearly 1,800 poems, but only a handful were published anonymously during her lifetime. After her death, her work was discovered and published, gaining wide recognition. Her poems often explore mortality, interior life, and the natural world, using unconventional punctuation and slant rhyme. The brevity and ambiguity of her verse create a reflective, sometimes enigmatic tone. She is now regarded as a central figure in American poetry, prefiguring modernist trends with her formal innovations. Her collected poems have influenced countless writers and remain widely studied and anthologized.

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