Emily Dickinson

From what I understand from reading biographies of the three great poets, I find myself most similar to Dickinson. The first characteristic that drew my attention was her introversion and reclusiveness. Although people probably would not call me a recluse I am quite introverted. The fact that Emily Dickinson had a troubling childhood due to the deaths of close ones made me feel a certain connection because something similar happened during my childhood. My “cool” uncle, the one who always let me do things that my parents or other elders wouldn’t let me do, passed away due to cancer. Later on, my best friend who I had known for four years committed suicide. Although I tried not to think about the deaths too much, I know they left a huge impact on my past and hence influence who I am today. I know those deaths are what come to my mind whenever we discuss ideas that relate to the ‘purpose of life’ and I remember thinking about them quite a bit when we discussed Albert Camus and his absurdist perspective. In a similar fashion, Dickinson writes about the theme of morbidity throughout her poems.

It says on Wikipedia that one of Dickinson’s themes throughout was something called “The Undiscovered Continent.” It refers to viewing the mind and spirit as tangible and physical environments, and a place where she claims to have had lived in for much of her life. She refers to it as the “Undiscovered Continent” and the “Landscape of the Spirit.” I think this is just extremely interesting. I have actually thought of my mind as such a place after reading about the Plato’s story about the Cave. So the theme just spoke out to me.