10/12/2021
"𝑾𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚" -𝑬. 𝑫𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏
Emily Dickinson, in full Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Emily was an American lyric poet who commanded a singular brilliance style and integrity of vision.
Emily lived much of her life in seclusion. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, to even leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most friendships between her and others depended entirely upon correspondence.
Emily had only 10 publications of her nearly 1800 poems and one letter however, these hardships didn’t stop her from being a prolific writer later to be regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry and considered to be one of the two leading 19th centuries American poems. Emily’s poems were quite different than other poems in their era. Her poems contain, short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhymes as well as unconventional capitalizations and punctuations. Her poems lean towards death and immortality, letters, aesthetics, society, nature, and spirituality.
Although many awaits Emily’s writings, it was not until her death in 1886 when her younger sister, Lavina, discovered her cache of poems, that her work became public. At least eleven of Emily's poems were dedicated to sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson, though all the dedications were obliterated, presumably by Todd (an acquaintance of Emily and the publisher of her first collection of poetry).
An example of Emily’s work was the poem "Success is counted sweetest";
𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵
𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘯𝘦'𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥.
𝘛𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘳
𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥.
𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘵
𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺
𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯
𝘚𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺
𝘈𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 – 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 –
𝘖𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘩
𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳!
"Success is counted sweetest" is a lyric poem by Emily Dickinson written in 1859 and published anonymously in 1864. The poem uses the images of a victorious army and one dying warrior to suggest that only one who has suffered defeat can understand success.
