There are a lot of misconceptions out there about Emily Dickinson — that she was reclusive, a crazy woman in the attic who wrote thousands of poems, stuffed them all in drawers, and was never published in her lifetime.
In fact, she was published — several of her poems saw print in local newspapers. Also, she wrote thousands of letters to many other writers and intellectuals of her day, looking for advice about writing, sharing thoughts, asking questions. She might have been physically reclusive, but she was intellectually expansive and craved contact with others. If she were alive today, she’d be one of our most prolific and celebrated bloggers, I’m sure. Also, while you might have thought that she’d be a cat person, in fact she had a dog, a big black Newfie who was her constant companion for sixteen years.
I’ve had this poem by Dickinson pinned to my wall for years now:
Luck is not chance –
It’s Toil –
Fortune’s expensive smile
Is earned –
The Father of the Mine
Is that old fashioned Coin
We spurned –
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The honesty makes it even more lovely.
Thanks for sharing the insight.
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I’ve read some biographies that list Emily as dying from Bright’s disease, which we’d probably diagnose as nephritis today. Over time untreated nephritis causes pain, swelling and weight gain, fatigue, shortness of breath and other symptoms which (if she had it) would probably have made it almost impossible for Emily to feel well enough to leave her home. Since some people can live with untreated kidney disease and decline slowly over a period of years, that may be the true reason behind her rep as the crazy reclusive lady.
I always found it interesting that after Emily’s death her sister kept a promise to burn all her papers by torching all her correspondence but not her poems.
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Don’t know all that much about Emily Dickensen but this is an interesting insight … as is Lynn’s hypothesis. Could be – that like a lot of authors/writers – she was an introvert. Physically unable to associate with the public.
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Carrie has a lovely story about Emily and Carlo on her website. It always makes me cry.
http://www.carrievaughn.com/ Click on the short story link and then go down toward the bottom of the page for the link. It is called “In Time”.