death_date death_place birth_place notableworks birth_date alt image article_title birth_name occupation
15 may 1886 amherst , massachusetts amherst , massachusetts list of emily dickinson poems 10 december 1830 photograph age of 16 of emily dickinson , seated , at the emily dickinson daguerreotype.jpg emily dickinson
 emily elizabeth dickinson poet
emily dickinson

emily elizabeth dickinson -lrb- december 10 , 1830 -- may 15 , 1886 -rrb- was an american poet .
dickinson was born in amherst , massachusetts .
although part of a prominent family with strong ties to its community , dickinson lived much of her life highly introverted .
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 .
considered an eccentric by locals , she developed a noted penchant for white clothing and became 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 private poet , fewer than a dozen of her nearly 1,800 poems were published during her lifetime .
the work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time .
dickinson 's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote ; 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 .
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 the breadth of her work became apparent to the 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 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 .
despite some unfavorable reception and skepticism over the late 19th and early 20th centuries regarding her literary prowess , dickinson is now almost universally considered to be one of the most significant of all american poets .
