by Anne Penny

Created on: May 30, 2009

Although Emily Dickinson did not have a colorful adventurous life, she nonetheless wrote powerful lyric poetry that still, in our brash and noisy modern world, has the power to move us.

The life of Emily Dickinson has been the subject of much interest and curiosity, especially in the possibility of romance, and her reclusive lifestyle is also a source of fascination for modern readers. It seems that at some point Emily turned her back on society, while the poems she wrote affirm a continued mental involvement with life's spiritual questions.

Emily was born in Amherst, Massachusetts 10 December 1830, the second of three children. Her brother Austin had been born in 1828 and a sister, Lavinia was born in 1833. The first ten years of Emily's life was spent with her family living, where she was born, in her grandfather's house The Homestead, on Main Street. Grandfather Samuel Dickinson was a successful lawyer as was his son Edward, Emily's father.

In 1840 Edward and his family moved to North Pleasant Street in Amherst where Emily's window overlooked the neighboring cemetery where she would have seen regular funeral gatherings. Also that year, when she was 10 years old, Emily started at Amherst Academy where she proved to be an outstanding student. This was a college her grandfather had helped to found and where her father served as college treasurer. Following seven years of education at Amherst, Emily left the town in 1847 for the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary.

The seminary was founded by Mary Lyon, a strongly principled woman, passionate about education for women "to save them from ignorance". She had a deep belief in the ability of the individual - "We may become what we will". Religious practices were rigorous both at home and at school and Emily's strong resistance to being pressured may have been a reason for her failure to return for the 2nd year of study. Whatever the reason, she remained at Mount Holyoke for only one year - the longest period of time she would ever leave Amherst, to which she returned in 1848.

The religion that dominated life for the Dickinson family was Calvinism, a harsh faith that saw no good in man, who may only be saved through conversion and acceptance of Christ's sacrifice. Emily stubbornly remained the only member of her family who rejected conversion, refusing to join the Congregational Church of Amherst. Clearly, Emily Dickinson had a strong will and preferred to choose her own direction, questioning the Calvinistic

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