Emily Dickinson - Amherst, MA
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neoc1
N 42° 22.746 W 072° 31.074
18T E 704342 N 4694853
Poet Emily Dickinson was born, lived and buried within a few hundred meters in West Cemetery, Triangle Street, Amherst, MA.
Waymark Code: WMBQDM
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 06/13/2011
Views: 9
Amherst, MA was the home of Emily Dickinson, the Belle of Amherst; arguably the most famous American female poet. She is world renowned for her brief, insightful poetry. The house she rarely left and her grave-site are only a few hundred meters apart. She lived at her family home at 280 Main St. in Amherst and is buried in West Cemetery. The rectangular marble headstone is located in a fenced in family plot. The headstone is inscribed:
EMILY DICKINSON
BORN
DEC. 10, 1830
CALLED BACK
MAY 15, 1886
Emily Dickinson was raised in a puritanical tradition, beliefs she would later challenge. Reclusive and shy, she never married but dedicated her life to writing poetry. Only seven of her poems were ever published in her lifetime. After she died, it was discovered that she had written a total of 1,775 poems arranged into four themes: Friends, Nature, Love, and Death. Many of her poems were published posthumously.
In this context here is her most appropriate poem - a classic example of her wisdom and style.
"Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.
Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity."
Plaque Inscription:
In Memorium
Emily Dickinson
Poetess
Erected By
The Dickinson Kinfolk
August 28, 1951
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