Emily Dickinson's Death Poetry

Résumé ou Introduction

After the first two volumes of Emily Dickinson’s poems appeared posthumously
in 1890 and 1891, there were many negative reviews of her work, such as,
If Miss Dickinson’s disjecta membra are poems, then Shakespeare’s prolonged
imposition should be exposed without further loss of time … Miss Dickinson’s
versicles have a queerness and a quaintness that have stirred a momentary
curiosity in emotional bosoms. Oblivion lingers in the immediate
neighbourhood.1
Today, however, Dickinson’s poetry is widely regarded as a milestone in American
literature. Dickinson has become a classic, famous for her vivid, powerful imagery and
innovative style. In fact, some critics consider her ‘the finest American woman poet’2
and claim that ‘[h]er accomplishment is so radically original that the entire model of
what poetry can know (and write) changes when her work is taken into account.’3 There
is an extensive range of criticism on Emily Dickinson’s poetry, many of which focuses
on her treatment of five dominant themes, that is, life, death, immortality, love and
nature. Dickinson’s early editors as well as critics including Ruth Flanders McNaughton
group the poems in these categories. According to Henry W. Wells, about one quarter of
Dickinson’s poems deals chiefly with the theme of death. 4 This part of Emily
Dickinson’s poetry will be in the centre of this essay. The essay will, first of all, explain
why the theme is so important for the poet. Why does Dickinson appear to be
preoccupied with death? Is it natural for her to make death one of her central topics?

1 Anonymous, ‘The New Pastoral Poetry,’ The Atlantic Monthly, 69, January 1892,
p.144, quoted in Ruth Flanders McNaughton, The Imagery of Emily Dickinson,
Norwood Editions, 1970, p. vii
2 David Porter, Dickinson: The Modern Idiom, Harvard University Press, 1981, p.1,
quoted in Helen McNeil, Emily Dickinson, Virago Press, 1986, p.1
3 Helen McNeil, Emily Dickinson, Virago Press, 1986, p.1
4 Henry W. Wells, Introduction to Emily Dickinson, Hendricks House, 1958, p. 94