Woman Writer Crush Wednesday!

Woman Writer Crush Wednesday!

 

Emily Dickinson - you've all heard the name and probably read a few of her works in your High School English class. Maybe you thought her morbid, maybe you didn't think much about her at all but Emily Dickinson was an extremely important figure in Literature especially for women.

 

Dickinson happens to be one of my favorite poets behind the likes of Poe if simply because I too am obsessed with death and tragedy in my writing. There is something that always fascinated me about Emily's writing - often times there was an undertone of humor or sarcasm in her writing. In a lot of her poetry there are undertones about humanity's vanity. Her sarcasm is usually unnoticed as most people reflect on the dark imagery of her prose. However, understanding that she had a sense of humor is very important to her work. Women were not thought to be funny or to have substantial opinions back in her day and age. The fact that her poetry is riddled with both humor and opinions is extremely vital to the history of women in Literature.

 

I loved reading Emily's work for several reasons. First of it was spoken truly, she was never afraid to give a heavy dose of reality to those who read her work. It came from the depths of her soul - she talked about her biggest fears, her hopes, and the things she held dearest. It is work that anyone and everyone can relate to. Though most often than not people peg Dickinson as a morbid poet who they cannot understand, that was not the only theme in her work. Love of nature, spirituality and hope are themes within her work as well. The fact that she not only wrote about the positives in life but also the morbid negatives makes her so relatable. She was not one-sided. She was not happy go lucky all the time. She had good days and bad days, and she saw the world as it was yet analyzed the way she wanted it to be.

 

She was a true artist who poured her soul into her work. I only hope that someday I inspire a young mind the way she inspired mine. If you haven't explored her work before or outside of a classroom setting I encourage you to do. She had a lot more to offer to the world of poetry than just some morbid ideas on death. TRUST ME.

 

-Maggie V.

 

Hope is the thing with feathers

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.


I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.