The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
Description
This comprehensive and authoritative collection of all 1,775 poems by Emily Dickinson is an essential volume for all lovers of American literature. Only eleven of Emily Dickinson's poems were published prior to her death in 1886; the startling originality of her work doomed it to obscurity in her lifetime. Early posthumous published collections -- some of them featuring liberally "edited" versions of the poems -- did not fully and accurately represent Dickinson's bold experiments in prosody, her tragic vision, and the range of her intellectual and emotional explorations. Not until the 1955 publication of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, a three-volume critical edition compiled by Thomas H. Johnson, were readers able for the first time to assess, understand, and appreciate the whole of Dickinson's extraordinary poetic genius. This book, a distillation of the three-volume Complete Poems, brings together the original texts of all 1,775 poems that Emily Dickinson wrote. "With its chronological arrangement of the poems, this volume becomes more than just a collection; it is at the same time a poetic biography of the thoughts and feelings of a woman whose beauty was deep and lasting." --San Francisco Chronicle
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Community Reviews
Maybe I'm just not a big poetry fan but I had to force myself to finish this book. On a poem to poem basis it was hit or miss. There were a few poems I really liked, and Dickinson has an aptitude for words, but she is a bit dated.
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WARNING: This review is by someone who does not study or analyze poetry. This review is by someone who reads poetry rather quickly and hopes for something to strike her like a bolt of lightning. There will be no scholarly technical terms. You've been warned.
Natalie in Fantasy vs Reality:
Fantasy
I am just going to adore these lovely poems. I may sit on a blanket under a large oak tree while reading about life and love and nature and death (er...time and eternity). I will be transported to another time and place through the melodious verse.
Reality
Holy crap. This is really tedious. *Checks the number of pages left for the 100th time*
So it turns out I don't love Emily Dickinson as much as I had hoped I would.
:'( <----Crying sad face, which means I'm really sad about this.
Life poems were pretty good. Love poems left much to be desired. Nature poems were an absolute bore. Time and eternity were probably my favorite of the bunch. These are just my personal opinions. I'm sure there are folks out there that live for reading about bees and butterflies and flowers for hours upon hours.
These are great poems to read out loud, but it was hard to read more than a few pages at a time because it became so darn repetitive.
Honestly, I couldn't wait to get done with it and was proud of myself just for finishing. I could only take so many poems about these mundane things. I know these are all terrible things to say because Emily Dickinson is so beloved, but I think I just needed to take her in a much smaller dose.
2 Stars
(sorry)
Natalie in Fantasy vs Reality:
Fantasy
I am just going to adore these lovely poems. I may sit on a blanket under a large oak tree while reading about life and love and nature and death (er...time and eternity). I will be transported to another time and place through the melodious verse.
Reality
Holy crap. This is really tedious. *Checks the number of pages left for the 100th time*
So it turns out I don't love Emily Dickinson as much as I had hoped I would.
:'( <----Crying sad face, which means I'm really sad about this.
Life poems were pretty good. Love poems left much to be desired. Nature poems were an absolute bore. Time and eternity were probably my favorite of the bunch. These are just my personal opinions. I'm sure there are folks out there that live for reading about bees and butterflies and flowers for hours upon hours.
These are great poems to read out loud, but it was hard to read more than a few pages at a time because it became so darn repetitive.
Honestly, I couldn't wait to get done with it and was proud of myself just for finishing. I could only take so many poems about these mundane things. I know these are all terrible things to say because Emily Dickinson is so beloved, but I think I just needed to take her in a much smaller dose.
2 Stars
(sorry)
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