Menu
Emily Dickinson

Early Life and Education

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent and well-educated family. She was the middle child of Edward Dickinson and Emily Norcross Dickinson. Together with her siblings, she began her education at a small one-room schoolhouse in Amherst before attending Amherst Academy, which was known for its strong science curriculum. Despite the scientific emphasis, the rigorous academics and intellectual atmosphere at Amherst Academy are believed to have supported her poetic development.

Related Biography: Dave Navarro

In 1847, Dickinson enrolled at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, one of the leading institutions for women's education at the time. However, she left the seminary after one year. Though the reasons for her departure are unclear, it marked the beginning of her increasingly reclusive lifestyle.

Poetic Development and Reclusion

Although Dickinson began writing poetry in her late teens, her dedication to the craft intensified in her twenties and thirties. Despite being a prolific writer, fewer than a dozen of her poems were published during her lifetime, and many of those were altered by editors to fit conventional poetic standards of the time. Dickinson preferred to keep her work private, often sharing poems only with friends and family.

She gradually withdrew from public life, spending most of her later years in relative isolation within her family home. This reclusive lifestyle contributed to the mystique surrounding her, but it also allowed her to focus inward and develop a unique poetic voice characterized by bold themes, unconventional grammar, and slant rhyme.


Quick Facts
Birth Date: 10 Dec, 1830
Age: 189 yrs
Occupations: Writer
Poet
Citizenship: United States of America
Birth Place: Amherst
residence: Amherst
Education: Mount Holyoke College
Gender: Female
Description: American poet (1830-1886)
Net Worth 2021: 5 million
Help us Edit this article and get a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift card.
Last Modified: May 3 2025
You may also like