Day 3 Part 2: Emily the Enigma

Emily Dickinson's house was my last stop on day 3. Her home is in Amherst Massachusetts right along Main Street. After exploring the grounds (which included her brother's home next door), we headed into the home to buy tickets and explore the gift shop. It seems that finger puppets of famous authors are quite popular.

Dickinson's past is full of mystery. Very little is actually known about the woman due to her secretive nature. The guide warned us that all of the oral tradition she would be sharing was simply that: oral tradition.

Emily was born in 1830 in this federal style brick townhouse (below). 

Only three images of her exist. One is a portrait of her and her siblings from when she was about nine. The next in a silhouette done at fourteen. The last is a photo of her done when she was about sixteen. When asked if she could have her photo taken later in life, she would simply describe her features instead.

Another mystery about Emily is what was going on in her mind during her life. Her main form of social interaction was letter writing. You'd think that the museum would have tons of information about her opinions from her letters. That would be the case, if, on her death bed, she hadn't requested that her sister burn each of her 1,800 letters. The only letters to go off of then, are the ones that others received from her. They all have a very tongue-in-cheek sassy style to them. 

Emily was a social woman in terms of writing, but not so much in terms of face-to-face interaction. She stayed in her home most of the time and didn't like crowds. This seclusion is often reflected in her poetry. In fact, she always stayed in New England except to visit her father in Washington D.C. 

As for her writing career, Emily sought out a mentor at the age of thirty. She wrote letters to a newspaper editor asking him for his opinion on her poetry. However, she rarely took his advice. She wrote poetry on scraps which were found by her sister after Emily's death. They were on backs of lists, chocolate wrappers and more. Emily was also very picky about diction. She would often change around the words in a poem many times and never truly decided on a final version.

The style of Dickinson's poetry is also somewhat unique for the time period. No other author was using internal capitalization or some of the other styles utilized by her. In addition to this quality that set her apart, I also learned that Dickinson was a transcendentalist, someone who finds spirituality in nature and within people.

The rooms that I saw in the house were:

• Back Parlor
• Front Parlor
• Library
• Emily's Bedroom

I had the opportunity to see Emily's bedroom under renovation. The museum team is going through and re-doing the walls in order to get the original wallpaper back and put in a new ceiling. This project allows them to check the ceiling for hidden items, and see the layers of paint on the walls. The guide told me that this was a unique experience-- not many people will see the room in this state.

She also informed me that Emily wrote in her bedroom. The windows overlooked a mountain ridge. Her desk was tiny, only about seventeen inches square. 

Overall, I had a great experience at the home. The staff there is passionate about Dickinson, her poetry, and about sharing her humor. The poetry that I've read of hers seems to reflect the seclusion that she desired and would have found in this home.