Emily Elizabeth Dickinson is an American lyric poet of the nineteenth century who has also been called "the New England mystic". (Britannica #4) She is one of the greatest masters of the short poem. There is very little known about her life, but it was unusually and interesting. Emily was born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10th, 1830. Emily's father, Edward Dickinson, was a lawyer and a politician. He was on the General Court of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts State Senate, and the U.S. House of Reps. Her mother, Emily Dickinson, was a housewife, she suffered from a long-term illness and Emily took care of her. Her grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson, was one of the founders of the Amherst College. Emily was the second of three children. Her youngest sister, Lavinia, lived with their family her whole life and never married. Then there was her older brother, Austin, who got married, but just lived right next door in his own house. Emily and her brothers and sisters we!
             re very close and stayed close throughout their lives. (Britannica #4)
             Emily went to a primary school for four years, then to Amherst Academy for seven more years. During these years Emily's parents noticed that she was a female genius. From there she attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for only one year. (http://longman.awl.com/kennedy/*censored*inson/biography.html) The seminary insisted on religious as well as intellectual growth. Emily didn't like the religious environment and was under considerable pressure to become Christian. (Britannica #4) When it came to religion, Emily was skeptic. She returned home so that she wouldn't have to face the religious environment that she was receiving from the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary.
             In the next few years Emily would become very close to a few friends, one was Benjamin Franklin Newton, who later guided her in the development of her poetry. (http://longman.awl.com/kennedy/*censored*i...