Romanticism Poet – Emily Dickinson

Dalhart Dobbs

Ms. Schmidt

Honors English 11

January 21, 2020

Dalhart Dobbs

Ms. Schmidt

Honors English 11

January 21, 2020

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson is a very well know American author who paved the way for romantic

poetry and for women in fields of literature. Many of her famous works are well known even

today and have a distinct style to them that make them unique. Overall, Emily Dickinson was

one of the most influential and successful romantic poets and her literature is a prime example of

romanticism tenets and laid the framework for many famous romantic writers who followed her

success.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts.

Throughout her life she published over 1800 works, she paved the way for female poets because

it was uncommon for a girl to be a prestigious in poetry, but Dickinson was recognized by her

peers and teachers as a prodigy despite being a girl. She attended college and excelled in many

areas of study which can be seen as a reason for some of her odder topics in her works.

Gardening was a great passion of hers, she had a herbarium where she kept pressed plants where

she used her Latin skills to name them. At the beginning of her adolescent life she was a

religious woman and attended a female seminary for a year after attending college for 7 years.

Her many years of schooling added to her skills as a poet and allowed her to write such deep and
captivating pieces. Despite going to the seminary, she grew away from the faith and did not

identify with a religious order in her adult life. Dickinson never married and died on May 5,

1886 in her birthplace of Amherst Massachusetts.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers, is one of Emily Dickinson’s most well-known poems

in which she uses on of her favorite mediums, birds, as a symbol for hope. She shows how hope

can sing a song from the soul, but it is not understandable, and it never stops because hope is

always present in some form or another. Dickinson uses birds as a medium for her poem not only

because they were one of her favorite animals, but additionally because they are a prime symbol

for hope given their biblical and interpretative background, being a symbol of hope among other

things. Birds are also a prime symbol because of their familial, but independent nature. This

poem further describes birds as a symbol for hope because of the song of the bird. Birds sing

regardless of the situation which can be symbolic of how hope never fails, additionally the song

of a bird is loud and heard by all but is indescribable and seemingly has no meaning, but it could

have meaning for the bird just like the thoughts in one’s mind still have meaning even though

they aren’t understood or spoken. The bird can also be seen as symbolic of Dickinson’s

reclusive nature, she often would remain in her home for long times and solely write. Dickinson

wrote over 1800 pieces in her lifetime, many of which were written during long stretches of time

in her home. Overall, the poem has a lot of symbolism and is a prime example of a romantic

poem because it utilizes the tenets of escapism and finding peace and escape in nature.

This poem utilizes two tenets of romanticism, escapism and nature as a source of

spirituality, these fit perfectly into the poems theme and relation to birds. This poem describes
hope similar to a bird showing a connection to nature, birds are fleeting little creatures that can

convey meaning and tranquility if observed. The connections to hope can be seen as hoping for

life to be simpler, utilizing escapism as a way to get away from the newly industrialized world

and see nature and enjoy the simpler things in life, possibly hope for something better. This

poem is a prime example of romantic poetry and is a template for others to follow after her,

Dickinson is able to evoke emotion and further meaning with her works which makes her a truly

unique author and has caused her to be seen as one of the most famous romantic poets.

Overall, Emily Dickinson was a very influential and talented romantic writer whose

works paved the way for future women in literature and other romantic writers. Dickinson’s

works embody the tenets of romanticism and contain deep meaning behind them. In conclusion,

Emily Dickinson wrote many works that embodied the tenets of romanticism and allowed for

many others to follow her in both romantic poetry and women in literature.
 Works Cited

“Biography.” Emily Dickinson Museum, www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/emily-

dickinson/biography/.

“Emily Dickinson.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 4 Dec. 2019,

www.biography.com/writer/emily-dickinson.

“Emily Dickinson.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,

www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/emily-dickinson.

Habegger, Alfred. “Emily Dickinson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,

6 Dec. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Emily-Dickinson.