Emily Dickerson

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The Sensuality of Emily Dickinson

Known as a recluse , Emily Dickinson was a brilliant poet who did not need a physical adventure to inspire her to write . Her vicarious experience was enough for her to pen hefty volumes of sonnets about nature , life and love . One surprise that an Emily Dickinson reader encounters is her sensuality , her portrayal of love and sex in her sonnets . It sparks a frenzied interest in the reader mainly because Dickinson is

known as a poet whose popular works resound with grim issues such as tragedy and mortality . In sonnets XI and XXV , we see a very different Emily Dickinson an Emily Dickinson we must meet and get to know

Born in a town called Amherst in the state of Massachusetts , Emily lead a quiet life , writing poetry and writing letters to friends . She briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary , which was the leading educational institution for women in her time . She apparently disagreed with some of the institution 's religious teachings , and returned home after a year of schooling . After a few travels she retreated to the safe comforts of her home , and began to be reclusive It was at this point that she also began to be constantly dressed in white

Some interesting speculations about her romantic life surface in most of her published biographies . It is said that she has had many romantic relationships with different men , but never considered marriage it is also said that one of her romantic liaisons include an ardent affair with Susan Huntington , her close friend who later married her brother Justin . One thing however , can

Customer 's last name 2 be proven about Emily Dickinson 's romantic life : she was passionate about love , and was intent in affirming it through her love sonnets

Emily Dickinson 's Sonnet XI describes sensual longing , symbolized by the river wanting to mingle with the sea

MY river runs to thee

Blue sea , wilt welcome me My river waits reply

Oh sea , look graciously I 'll fetch thee brooks

From spotted nooks , - Say , sea

Take me In this poem we feel the intense longing of one entity , one person towards another the longing is so intense that the persona , symbolized by the river , promises to bring gifts in the form of brooks (line 5 to ensure that the desire is reciprocated

In Sonnet XXV , Emily Dickinson portrays passion through the use of the same symbol , the sea

WILD nights ! Wild nights

Were I with thee

Wild nights should be

Our luxury Futile the winds

To a heart in port , -

Done with the compass

Done with the chart Rowing in Eden

Ah ! the sea

Might I but moor

To-night in thee

Customer 's last name 3 Here we see the determination of one lover to be with his beloved moving from a mere wish of wild nights (line 1 ) to a more concrete present , to-night (line 12 . The...