Emily Dickinson: A Female Inspiration

Miss Dickinson was just like any artist, a little peculiar. A recluse most of her life, she spent her birth and death in Amherst, Massachusetts, for 55 years. She was known for wearing white clothing constantly and barely walking past her bedroom door frame. Influenced by writers such as Emerson and William Blake, she became known for her romantic and unique writing style of poetry. Dickinson never married, though she was clearly one consumed by love, and it was theorized that she had a romantic affair with her longtime friend, Susan Gilbert. Emily Dickinson was the ultimate feminist, breaking boundaries set for women writers, the expectation of marriage for women of her stature, and she rebelled against social norms for young women of her time.

After her death, nearly 1,800 poems of hers were discovered, and those are just the ones we know of. She spent her entire life devoted to poetry and the art of writing. As a wealthier woman of the 19th century, it was easier for her to choose not to marry and have the privilege of spending her time harnessing her poetry skills. When I was younger, I adored poetry. My favorite form of poetry was haikus, because the rules were simple for a little girl to follow, and I had the most fun time writing them. I had a distaste for classic poetry because I was jealous that I did not have the natural talent to write such things, and therefore dismissed and blew it off.

I first discovered Emily Dickinson in high school when we were assigned to analyze “Because I could not stop for death”. This quickly became my favorite poetry piece. I pored over this lyric for days on end, trying to figure out why this incited a powerful reaction within me. Then I realized that is what makes art, art! I had never felt like that about a piece of writing before in my life, and it felt like something was budding inside me that I had never experienced before: adoration and inspiration.

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Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –

The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess – in the Ring –

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –

We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed Us –

The Dews drew quivering and Chill –

For only Gossamer, my Gown –

My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground –

The Roof was scarcely visible –

The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity –

Poetry Foundation

I believe that this is what truly sparked my love for the art and literature of the Victorian period. To this day, it is still my favorite lyric, and it inspires me to study poetry and learn to write it myself. I never considered myself someone who loved art or even appreciated art, but then I learned how I was forcing myself to look at things that did not ignite the same fire in me that this poem does. Art is supposed to make you feel something. I know that’s cliché, but it’s absolutely true, and I understand what they mean now. Find someone who inspires you and makes you want to learn and create. Find your Emily Dickinson.