Emily Dickinson

Generally considered among the greatest American poets, Emily Dickinson has been read, studied and admired by generations of literature students and poetry lovers. This modestly priced new edition presents over 100 of her best-known, best-loved poems, reprinted from authoritative early editions.

Emily Dickinson lived as a recluse in Amherst, Massachusetts, dedicating herself to writing a "letter to the world"-the 1,775 poems left unpublished at her death in 1886. Today, Dickinson stands in the front rank of American poets. This enthralling collection includes more than four hundred poems that were published between Dickinson's death and 1900. They express her concepts of life and death, of love and nature, and of what Henry James called "the landscape of the soul." And as BIlly Collins suggests in his Introduction, "In the age of the workshop, the reading, the poetry conference and festival, Dickinson reminds us of the deeply private nature of literary art."

Unpublished in her lifetime and unknown at her death in 1886, Emily Dickinson stands today in the front rank of American poets. While she lived as a recluse in her father's house in Amherst, Massachusetts, she dedicated herself to writing her "letter to the world" - the 1,775 poems she left at her death. At her sister's instigation, a small volume of these was published in 1891, to be followed by two more, and then two volumes of her letters. More poems appeared in 1914 and again during the twenties, when her place in literature was at last recognized. Finally, in 1950, Harvard University bought all available manuscripts and publishing rights and has since issued, in six volumes, the complete poems and letters, as well as the only contemporary description we have of the poet - Thomas Wentworth Higginson's account of his correspondence with and visit to Emily Dickinson - is designed for readers who want the best of the poems and the most interesting of the letters in convenient form.

Beautiful, commissioned illustrations accompany a number of Emily Dickinson's most beloved poems. A fantastic way to introduce children to poetry, the included vocabulary and context notes help make the art form more accessible to beginners. A biography of the poet is also provided at the beginning of the book. Ages 8 & up. 48 pages, hardcover.