The Poems of Emily Dickinson | Biography and Summary of Top Ten Poems

0:00:10 - Emily Dickinson Biography; 0:03:54 - Because I could not stop for death Summary; 0:06:43 - Hope is a Thing with Feathers Summary; 0:08:53 - The Soul Selects Her Own Society Summary, 0:10:37 - I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed; 0:13:23 - I died for Beauty but was scarce; 0:15:41 - I felt a Funeral in my Brain, 0:19:10 - A Bird came down the walk; 0:21:23 - I heard a Fly Buzz When I Died; 0:23:06 - A Light Exist in Spring; 0:24:28 - Tell all the Truth but Tell it Slant; Emily Dickinson was an American poet who wrote some 1800 poems in open verses or free verses. Along with Walt Whitman, she is considered the very first poet who wrote poems in free verses. She had a great influence of English poets Robert Browning and his wife Eliza Barret Browning. Also, she was an admirer of John Keats. Emily Dickinson was a reclusive American writer who was an introvert. However, she was influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and his essays on naturalism and transcendentalism. The main themes of the poems of Emily Dickinson remained nature, spiritualism, death, and aesthetics. Almost all of her poems (except 10) were published posthumously after her death. In 1955, all of her poems were published in an unaltered manner in the book The Poems of Emily Dickinson. We have discussed the top ten poems of Emily Dickinson along with detailed summary and analysis. The poems we have covered are 1) Because I could not stop for Death— 2) "Hope" is the thing with feathers — 3) The Soul selects her own Society — 4) “I taste a liquor never brewed--” 5) I died for beauty, but was scarce 6) I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, 7) A Bird came down the Walk — 8) I heard a Fly buzz — when I died — 9) A Light exists in Spring 10) Tell all the Truth but tell it slant — These poems are not necessarily in chronological order. We have tried to cover all such poems of Emily Dickinson that are important from the point of view of UGC NET English literature exam. We will continue to discuss American literature in English in upcoming videos, please stay connected with the Discourse.