2. Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (Amherst,
Massachusetts-10th December, 1830) regarded as
one of America’s greatest poets, is also known for
her unusual life of self imposed social seclusion.
Although living a life of simplicity and seclusion,
she wrote poetry of great power; questioning the
nature of immortality and death, two recurring
topics in the letters to her friends.
3. First Years
• As a young child, Emily proved to be a bright and
conscientious student. She showed a sharp intelligence
and was able to create many original writings of rhyming
stories.
• In response to his father strictness in censorship, she was
highly deferential to her father and other male figures of
authority.
• But, despite her attempts to please and be well thought
of, she was at the same time independently minded and
quite willing to refuse the prevailing orthodoxy’s on
certain issues.
4. In her poetry she didn’t use to use titles very often. The rhyme in her
poems is usually the slant one, within short lines in which she
expressed far-reaching ideas. Moreover, her poetry, which is
amidst paradox and uncertainty, has an undeniable capacity to
move and provoke.
The work that was published during her lifetime was usually
altered by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules
of the time.
She died in May 15, 1886 due to Bright’s disease, a chronic
nephritis.
Her work & death
5. Religion
A crucial issue at the time was religion,
which to Emily was the “all important
question”.
The antecedents of the Dickinson’s can be
traced back to the early Puritan settlers, who left
Lincolnshire (England) in the late 17th Century
in order to practice religious freedom in
America.
6. Legacy
• Her first collection of poetry after her death was
published in 1890 by personal acquaintances who
heavily edited the content. But, finally, a complete
and mostly unaltered collection of her poetry
became available for the first time in 1955 when The
Poems of Emily Dickinson was published by scholar
Thomas H. Johnson.
• Despite unfavorable reviews during the late 19th
and early 20th century, critics now consider her to
be a major American poet.
7. A selected poem “A Book”
A Book
“There is no frigate like a book The poem with the
To take us lands away, expresses the coursers,
Nor any coursers like a page importance stating that the
Of prancing poetry. Dickinson gives first ones are
This traverse may the poorest take to books and better. The
Without oppress of toll; literature in comparison is
How frugal is the chariot general, established upon
That bears a human soul!” specifying the the similarity
importance of between the
Emily Dickinson
poetry. For her, prancing
books are movements of
capable of coursers and
making us travel the sensation of
when reading the same
them. Books tell movement when
us stories of any reading poetry
kind, at any (it make us stay
place, real or “nervous” until
not, and with we know the end
the company of of the poem, for
many different example).
characters. She
also compares
the “pages” of
poetry books
8. A selected poem “A Book” II
She adds that this is a travel all people can do, even
the poorest, without being injured and without having to
pay much. With the words “oppress” and “toll” she may be
referring to how poor people would feel when travelling,
because of having to pay lots of money (a “toll”, a loss of
money, for example).
The two last lines express how the human soul has to
deal with lots of problems, being that “chariot” all the
things we do during our life and that a Spanish poet,
Antonio Machado, will call “way” in one of his poems.
Looking at the poem in general, it reflects how
Dickinson saw life. She would prefer being alone, reading,
rather than travelling, being surrounded by people.
9. My opinion
I like this poem because I feel the same as
Dickinson when reading books (in my case, the
fantastic and adventures ones). Books make us
travel around places we have never been before
or remember the ones we have already visited.
For me, books are important as well as
interesting and astonishing.
10. Before my poem…
I found a poem by Maya Angelou which I
found interesting. Because of this, I would talk
about it and about his author a bit.
11. Another American Writer
In this short poem, Angelou
expresses a typical theme in
literature: the passing time (as she
announces on her poem’s title).
Your skin like dawn The skin of young people is
Mine like musk smooth, but we know that this
youthful look will disappear and
One paints the beginning will turn into a wrinkled face, an
of a certain end. old person (the beginning of a certain
ending”).
The other, the end of a On the other hand we know
sure beginning. that the wrinkled face of old
people has not always been
wrinkled, they have been children
Maya Angelou too (the end of a sure beginning).
12. My opinion & Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou (April 4th, 1928, St. I like her poem because it
Louis, Missouri) was raised in St. Louis and summarizes in a very few lines what
Stamps, Arkansas. There, Angelou happens to all human beings during our
experienced racial discrimination as well as lives.
she absorbed the unshakable faith and
values of traditional African-American She keeps simple something that if you
families, community and culture. think it in depth it is not that easy, being this
the reason why her poem is so unique and
She is one of the most famous and beautiful.
influential people of our time, being a
celebrated poet, novelist, dramatist, actress,
filmmaker and civil rights activist among
other things.
She has served on two presidential
committees and has been awarded several
times (the Presidential Medal of Arts in
2000 and 3 Grammy Awards among others).
13. My Poem- “The Importance of Ideas”
Ideas are just so difficult to forget.
When one is set on your mind
Is impossible to be deleted.
The world is carried by ideas,
They make it be what it is
And what it can be,
Also what it could be.
Ideas are strong, powerful.
They give us the strength for
Doing great things
Or horrible ones.
Ideas scare me,
But they also delight myself.
They give me my passion
My ambition,
My obsession.
Ideas always depends on
The person who carries them.
But why on earth should man
Use them for doing the bad?
“No idea, mate.”
