Books with title The Essential Emily Dickinson

SELECTED AND INTRODUCED BY JOYCE CAROL OATESBetween them, our great visionary poets of the American nineteenth century, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, have come to represent the extreme, idiosyncratic poles of the American psyche....Dickinson never shied away from the great subjects of human suffering, loss, death, even madness, but her perspective was intensely private; like Rainer Maria Rilke and Gerard Manley Hopkins, she is the great poet of inwardness, of the indefinable region of the soul in which we are, in a sense, all alone.

Emily Dickinson wrote more than one thousand poems, several hundred of which remain of critical interest and debate. Harold Bloom suggests Dickinson presents the most authentic cognitive difficulties of 19th and 20th century poetry. This title, Emily Dickinson, part of Chelsea House Publishers Modern Critical Views series, examines the major works of Emily Dickinson through full-length critical essays by expert literary critics. In addition, this title features a short biography on Emily Dickinson, a chronology of the author's life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University.

Growing up in Amherst, Massachusetts, young, bright Emily Dickinson was known for her witty writing and excellent baking. As she grew older she wore only white, spent less time with others, and devoted hours to be alone in her bedroom and garden. At her little desk, Emily Dickinson wrote about many topics, including nature, love, and death. In her garden, she grew an amazing collection of flowers. She had a very strong bond with her family and a few people she considered friends, but many others were curious about the shy and talented poet. By the time her life was over, Emily Dickinson had written over 1,700 poems, a surprise even to those closest to her. To this day, Dickinson s poetry is considered innovative and fascinating, and it is loved by people all over the world. Yet mysteries still remain. What inspired Emily to write? What made her become so private and retreat from the world? Dickinson scholars and fans continue to search for answers.