Emily Dickinson By Sara Fleming A Slash of

Emily Dickinson By: Sara Fleming

A Slash of Blue A sweep of Gray Some scarlet patches on the way, Compose an Evening Sky A little purple slipped between Some Ruby Trousers hurried on A Wave of Gold A Bank of Day This just makes out the Morning Sky.

Emily Dickinson • She was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. • She spent seven years at the Amherst Academy taking classes in English, classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, mental philosophy, and arithmetic during her teenage years. • The school’s principal thought that she was a bright and conscientious student and was able to write rhyming stories at a young age. • After finishing her last term at Amherst, she started attending Mary Lyon’s Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley. She was only there for about 10 months.

Emily Dickinson • She was very shy, so most of her poems started off by letters she had wrote to her friends and family. • Many people she had contact with had an impact on her writings. • Religion had a major impact on her poems.

Literary Criticism • Willis Buckingham noted that readers in the 1890 s often praised Dickinson’s “inspired” thoughts and emotions rather than her poetic technique. • Modern critics have come to appreciate Dickinson’s accomplishments in language and poetic structure. • Many critics have also explored the various themes of Dickinson's poetry against the backdrop of events in her personal life. • Power is another theme that has received a great deal of critical attention.

A slash of Blue Info • When you first read the poem you think it is just about a morning sky, but it is really about War. • This shows how sophisticated and imaginative Dickinson’s poetic powers were at her early years.