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Emily Dickinson was a woman of wit, passion and privacy. Born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, she was the oldest daughter of a local prominent lawyer. Raised in a sober, pious household; Emily refused to be boxed in either society or her father. Known as an eccentric in her later years, much of the public has forgotten the rebellious attitudes that marked her youth.

In an age of stict Christianity, she refused to be labelled as a Christian at all. These radical ideas began to seperate from the local community. Her father, although he loved her, he had very strong ideas of what a woman's place was. He never wanted her to delve too deeply into politics, modern literature or the news. He saw that she was educated but in a genteel way that would prepare her to be a wife and mother, not a writer.

Yet, it was her father's political entertaining at their home in Amherst that exposed her to modern politics and made her socially aware. She made a name for herself at these gatherings as an intelligent and witty conversationalist. Due to poor health, Emily started limiting her social activities. She also had to withdraw from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary where she was studying.

Often ill and preferring her own company, Emily rarely left her home as she grew older. On one of her rare trips in 1855, Emily met a married minister, Charles Wadsworth, on a trip to Philadephia. This was one of the defining relationships of her life. Their relationship, although brief, was intense. Many believe that he is the subject of many of her love poems.

Many scholars also speculate that Emily started writing poetry in 1850s. She published a few anonoymously but mostly she seemed to write for herself. However, don't assume that because she kept most of her work to herself that she didn't struggle to hone her craft. She developed a literary writing relationship with mentor, Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Higginson was a well-known literary critic and he corresponded with Emily about her poetry for most of her life.

Emily's health continued to worsen with age. In 1861, she suffered a nervous breakdown and multiple eye problems. After that episode, she started to go out less and less in public and when she did go out, she only wore white. Emily never felt that she had to explain herself to outsiders. She was content with her friends, her family and her hidden poetry.

In the late 1870's and early 1880's, Emily lost several friends and her dear nephew. Coupled with her growing heath problems, these deaths pushed her into a spiral of depression. In 1886, she died of complications to Bright's disease.

Her sister, Lavonia, discovered hundreds of poems hand stitched into books in her room. Lavonia and Emily's brother, Austin, saw that these poems were published. At first, editors changed her wording and structure to make the poetry fit into 19th century ideals of poetry. It wasn't until many years later that her poetry was returned to it's original format. This is the poetry that America loves today.

Emily's poems changed literature. They were brief, compact, yet strongly emotional. They were original in style and structure. Her poems are full of passion, of ideas and they leave a strong impression on the reader. She showed poets that poems didn't need to be flowery or overwritten. They needed to speak from their hearts in an economy of language.

Emily Dickinson is seen in history as an eccentric figure. Yet, she was a woman who loved, who fought, who dreamed big. Perhaps, her room was small but her world was huge. Emily Dickinson is a poet of merit and worthy of our respect.

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