Dickinson

In all of Emily Dickinson's poetry there is always that feeling of loneliness. You can not deny that Emily Dickinson talks about loneliness but the question is if Dickinson is actually lonely herself. In this paper I will show you that although Emily Dickinson poetry is often lonely and about death, she in fact is not lonely. Emily Dickinson purposely lives a life of solitude because she enjoys being alone and it helped her write poetry about being alone.

Poem #228, "I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you - Nobody - too? Then there's a pair of us! Don't tell! They'd banish us - you know" (Halio 19). This shows that she is alone and saying she is nobody. Most people would think she is lonely but this is not true. The poem continues, "How dreary - to be - Somebody! How public - like a Frog - To tell you name - the livelong June - To and admiring Bog" (Halio 19). As you can see, Dickinson is saying that it is depressing to be somebody. Dickinson would much rather be a nobody. Lonely people don't want to be nobodies. She does not want to be in the public's eye.

Poem #303,

"The Soul selects her own Society - Then - shuts the Door - To her divine Majority - Present no more - Unmoved - she notes the Chariots - pausing - At her low Gate - Unmoved - an Emperor be kneeling Upon her Mat - I've known her - from an ample nation - Choose One - Then - close the valves of her attention - Like Stone" (Halio 20).

In this poem Dickinson is telling the reader that she selects her friends and then she closes the door to rest of the world. She has only a few friends and that's all she wants. To the reader it may sound lonely to only have a few friends but this is the way Dickinson is happy. She explains that she could have an emperor wanting to be her friend, kneeling upon her mat and she will refuse him because she is happy with the few close friends she already has. She is like stone and will not change the way she feels about this. Just because to the reader, her life may seem lonely, it is not because she chooses to be this way.

Poem # 465,

"I hear a Fly buzz - when I died - The Stillness in the Room Was like the Stillness in the Air - Between the Heaves of Storm - The Eyes around - had wrung them dry - And Breaths were gathering firm For that last Onset - when the King Be witnessed - in the Room - I willed my Keepsakes - Signed away What portion of me be Assignable - and then it was There interposed a Fly - With Blue - certainly stumbling Buzz - Between the light - and me - And then the Windows failed - and then I could not see to see" (Halio 22).

This poem is a perfect example of why Dickinson's poetry has the feeling of loneliness. First of all it is depressing because it is about dying, but more importantly if you take a close look you can see that she inconstantly using the word I. It gives the feeling of loneliness because Dickinson never talks about anyone but herself in most of her poetry. She is never talking with someone else, it is her alone.

Poem #249,

"Wild Nights - Wild Nights! Were I with thee Wild Nights should be Our luxury! Futile - the Winds - To a Heart in port - Done with the Compass - Done with the Chart! Rowing in Eden - Ah, the Sea! Might I but moor - Tonight - In thee" (Halio 19).

This is one of the rare poems that shows us that Emily Dickinson is not lonely. She talks about enjoying a special night with her lover. She seems very cheerful at the thought of a romantic night with a lover.

As you can see most of Dickinson's poetry deals with loneliness. But to understand if Dickinson was actually lonely or just writing poems about it you have to investigate her life. A common misconception was that Emily Dickinson did not have any friends because she of the lifestyle she lived. Although she did cut her self off from most the world, she did have a couple close friends. From the letters of Emily Dickinson we learn who some of these friends are. "Dear friend, Your letter gave no Drunkenness, because I tasted Rum before - Domingo comes but once - yet I have had a few pleasures so deep as your opinion, and if I tried to thank you, my tears would block my tongue" (Halio 22).

This is a letter to one of Emily Dickinson's dearest friends, T. W. Higginson. We know he is very close because she cares about his opinion very much and throughout her lifetime they write back and forth numerous times. Dickinson pours her heart out to him more than anyone else in her letters.

We learn about more of Dickinson's friendships and possible relationships with men from Richard B. Sewall,

"One certainty is that Benjamin Franklin Newton, a law student in Edward Dickinson's office from 1847 to 1849, was important in Emily's formative

...