美国文学EmilyDickinson迪金森

• Dickinson's poetry writing began in the early 1850s. Altogether she wrote 1,775 poems, of which only seven had appeared during her lifetime. Most of her poems were published after her death. Her fame kept rising. She is now recognized not only as a great poetess on her own right but as a poetess of considerable influence upon American poetry of the 20th century.
• Before her death, she asked her sister to burn all her poems. • After her death, her poems were heavily edited and published by Higginson and friend Mabel Loomis Todd. • In 1955, Thomas H. Johnson finally published a collection of her poems that had not been “corrected.” These are the versions we read today.
Dickinson’s Publishing Career
• Sent poems to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a literary critic and family friend. • Although Higginson was astounded by Dickinson's originality and encouraged her literary aspirations, he advised her not to publish. Dickinson's decided to follow the advise. • "If fame belonged to me," she told Higginson, "I could not escape her; if she did not, the longest day would pass me on the chase.… My barefoot rank is better." The twentieth century lifted her without doubt to the first rank among poets. • At the time of her death, only seven of her poems had been published.
“Dogs are better than human beings, because they know but do not tell.”
“Forever is composed of nows.” “Success is counted sweetest, by those who ne'er succeed.” “We meet no Stranger, but Ourself”
因为它从来不曾写给我 自然带来简单的讯息 既温柔又崇高的存在
我看不见的手 为了对她的爱,亲爱的同胞 请温柔地把我评判
“If I read a book [and] it makes my whole warm me I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”
• Until 1855, Dickinson had not strayed far from Amherst. That spring, accompanied by her mother and sister, she took one of her longest and farthest trips away from home. First, they spent three weeks in Washington, where her father was representing Massachusetts in Congress. Then they went to Philadelphia for two weeks to visit family.
Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886)
The Belle/Nun of Amherst
Dickinson quotes
“Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all.” “If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.”
• Between 1858 and 1862, it was later discovered, she wrote like a person possessed, often producing a poem a day. It was also during this period that her life was transformed into the myth of Amherst. Withdrawing more and more, keeping to her room, sometimes even refusing to see visitors who called, she began to dress only in white—a habit that added to her reputation as an eccentric.
Weird Recluse?
• She would sometimes send her poems to people as
gifts for valentines or birthdays, along with a pie or cookies.
• She often lowered snacks and treats in baskets to neighborhood children from her window, careful never to let them see her face. • Dickinson wanted to live simply as a complete independent being, and as a spinster.
This is my letter to the world, That never wrote to me,-The simple news that Nature told, With tender majesty. 这是我写给世界的信
Her message is committed To hands I cannot see; For love of her, sweet countrymen, 她的讯息是写给那双 Judge tenderly of me!
What’s the Difference?
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 played, Their lessons scarcely done; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun. 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—
Dickinson’s Legacy
• Dickinson died May 15, 1886 of nephritis (kidney disease). • Along with Walt Whitman, Dickinson is one of the two giants of American poetry of the 19th century.
---Emily Dickinson
Life story
• Born into a Calvinist family December 10, 1830 in Amherst, MA. • Educated at Amherst Academy for 7 years. • At 17, began college at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary; she became ill the spring of her first year and did not return. • She would leave home only for short trips for the remainder of her life, leading scholars to speculate she may have been agoraphobic(旷野恐惧症).
Emily Dickinson's tombstone in the family plot
• She is, in a sense, a link between her era and the literary sensitivities of the turn of the century. She never married, and she led an unconventional life that was outwardly uneventful but was full of inner intensity. She loved nature and found deep inspiration in the birds, animals, plants, and changing seasons of the New England countryside.
• We find no mention of the war or any other great national event in her poetry. Of all the great writers of the 19th century, she had the least influence on her times. Yet, because she was cut off from the outside world, she was able to create a very personal and pure kind of poetry. Since her death, her reputation has grown enormously and her poetry is now seen as very modern for its time.