In the history of American literature, few people are as profound, sincere and legendary as Emily Dickinson (1830- 1886). These characteristics are not only reflected in her poems and thoughts, but also included in her own life experience and emotional world. Emily has always been a mystery to most people. Emily left almost no trace in American literature before her death, except that her friend published six poems without her consent. It was decades after Emily's death that people began to get to know her. She is the kind of genius who was born at the wrong time and became famous later, a bit like the Dutch painter Van Gogh. The difference is that Van Gogh was poor and broke down. Emily herself lives in a middle-class family, lives a carefree life, concentrates on reading and writing, is indifferent to secular utilitarianism, and is isolated from the world, and builds her own rich and profound spiritual nest. "How can you be alone when you keep the window all day?" (Li Qingzhao)
I am nobody. /Who are you? /Are you a nobody? /We are a couple. /Don't talk. /They will drive us away. /You know.
How boring it is to compete for the position of a celebrity,/appear like a frog/make noise in this long June/in the mud pond that worships it. (Dickinson's poem, translated by Jin Xin)
Emily Dickinson's father is a famous lawyer in amherst. He has been in charge of finance in local colleges and universities for many years and enjoys high social prestige. At home, he is strict with his children, taking the Bible and classical literature as spiritual pillars, and only allowing children to read these books. The son of three children doesn't seem to worry his parents, but two unmarried daughters who have stayed in the boudoir for many years have become a heart disease for his family. This eldest daughter, in particular, is alone in front of the window all day, meditating silently and writing silently. Sometimes she doesn't talk all day, and her temperament seems lonely and sparse. Even guests from home never want to come out to meet each other. Apart from studying at amherst University for six years when she was young, and studying at Horyock Women's Theological Seminary for one year, Emily almost never left her home and was isolated from the outside world for a long time. She has traveled once or twice before, but that is unique to her. She spent her whole life in her hometown. When she was young, people could still see her playing with her neighbor's children in her garden. Later, because of illness, Emily had to shut herself in her boudoir, and she rarely communicated with the outside world, making it even harder for people to see her. Sometimes, people can occasionally see her putting food in a small bamboo basket upstairs and then slowly descending from the window with a rope. There are already several little guys downstairs.
This is the best way for Emily to communicate with the outside world by herself. Although Emily in this period could not talk with people as easily as ordinary people, she still communicated with nature and children with her heart. Whenever this time, a sweet smile will appear on her face.
Emily always hides early when her sister's friends or other guests visit. So if anyone can accidentally catch a glimpse of her white figure passing through the hall, it will become their capital to show off to others. Although Emily seldom meets people face to face, she keeps in touch with the outside world in her own way. That is to correspond with few friends. A letter is actually only one or two lines, such as, "Did you pay attention tonight?" "The new moon is like a girl from a gold mine." Such a beautiful poem is actually an image that flashed through her mind by accident. It is meaningful and interesting to her, but others may not fully understand the true meaning.
Never understand Emily's withdrawn and quiet temperament as a world-weary mood. In fact, in her seemingly indifferent heart, it is the poet's sincere and lasting love for nature, family and friends. It's just that this kind of love is too subtle, too obscure, too special, too elegant, like a trickle in the jungle, and also like a gurgling stream in the gap between rocks. Although it is not discovered and understood by ordinary people, it is calm, meaningful and nourishing.
No one can explain why Emily has lived alone for a long time. The popular saying comes from her family's speculation. They think she has closed the door to her heart because she secretly fell in love with a married man and knew that it would not work out. 1854, Emily met a priest named wadsworth during a trip and fell in love with him, calling him "the dearest earthly friend". She even wrote a "Lover" based on him and wrote it in her own poem to express her feelings. But because Wordsworth is a married man, Emily's love can't have any results, so she closed herself up and devoted herself to poetry creation. But after all, this is just a family guess. No one can really know the emotional course of Emily's inner world. This is her temper, knowing that there will be no result, but she will never change. I don't even think it's necessary to let anyone know, including my lover. Like a moth to a flame, I would rather die for my ideal as long as I die well.
In fact, Emily's poems mainly benefit from two people. One is BenjaminF F. Newton, a law student who used to work in her father's office. He taught Emily how to collect books and write poems, and advised her to pay attention to her poetry creation, not just for fun. The other is Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
That year, Emily read an article published by Hutchinson in Atlantic Monthly, in which he said that "it is the bounden duty of editors to discover genius" and taught young writers to "inject passion into their writing style" ... to describe things in language ... to melt years of enthusiasm into a vocabulary and write down their savings in one sentence. Attracted by these views, she couldn't help writing a letter to Hutchinson, stating her literary views and attaching four poems of her own. Hutchinson was surprised when he received the letter, because it was unsigned and only the words "Emily Dickinson" were signed on the envelope. In the letter, she begged Hutchinson to be her "master" and called herself "your elf" and "your student". Hutchinson appreciates Emily's talent and thinks she is very unique. They began to correspond and often exchanged views on literature. Emily also sends her poems to Hutchinson from time to time. In a letter, she once wrote: "If there is a book that can make me feel cold after reading and there is no fire to warm me, I know it must be a poem. If I have a feeling that my head is off, I know it must be a poem. This is my only understanding of poetry. In addition, will there be other understandings? "
1870 Hutchinson came to Amherst to visit the poetess. Emily is already a 40-year-old girl Because I have been alone for a long time, I am not used to talking to people, and my speech is rather confusing. Nevertheless, she left a deep impression on Hutchinson. Although she has reservations about some of her creative styles, she thinks she can feel an illusory, talented and sincere charm.
Without the fetters of family life and the troubles of secular affairs, Emily devoted all her time to her garden, west window and study. A dead fly, a withered flower, a clump of grass swaying in the wind or a flying bird may inspire her poetry and inspire her creation. She is good at linking different images and giving them new ideas. "The wind combed the sky with its fingers", "March came boldly and knocked at the door like a neighbor", "The moon slipped down the stairs to spy,' Who's there?' "
"Hope" is a bird without feathers/perches on the soul/sings a song without lyrics/never forgets (Dickinson's poem, translated by Jin Xin)
Before Emily's death, almost no one, including her family, knew that she could write poetry, and everything went on silently in a plain life. Her attitude in writing poems is very strict, and she never exaggerates for the sake of fame. However, her writing style is very casual and she is used to writing poems on some post-it notes and pieces of paper. After many a mickle makes a mickle, she sewed the pieces of paper together, rolled them up, tied them with a ribbon and put them in the drawer of her desk. Just as Madame Curie didn't take the Nobel Prize seriously and let the children play casually, Dickinson didn't take her poetry creation seriously at all. Before she died, she gave her sister her poem and told her to burn it and not to stay in the world. Fortunately, after reading these poems, her sister couldn't bear to destroy the manuscript, so that more than 700 poems of/kloc-0 survived and became treasures in American literature.
I died for beauty-I was placed in this grave/someone died for truth and was buried in a nearby cave/he once asked softly, "Why did you die?" /"For beauty" I replied/"I, for truth-they are the same/we are brothers" He spoke/just like this, like two men, meeting at this night/talking across the grave/until the moss climbed to our lips/hiding his name on our stone tablet (Dickinson's poem, translated by Jin Xin)
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Culture/2002/01012168.htm