Talk:Emily Dickinson

Question

According to these sources [1][2] there's a poem by Dickinson called "Belshazzar had a letter—," with dash and comma as written. Any reason I shouldn't believe that this is the correct title? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:08, 7 September 2018 (UTC)

There isn't a simple answer. Dickinson titled few of her poems. (Arguably, she didn't title any of them.) As a matter of convention, publishers have often used the first lines as titles. Some have included punctuation at the end of the lines, some haven't. Doing so looks odd and may confuse readers, so my opinion is that it's better to omit it, especially when there are two consecutive punctuation marks—a practice that was far more common in the nineteenth century than today. (Incidentally, I believe the first line of the poem in question ends with a comma and then a dash, not a dash and then a comma.) There's a discussion of Dickinson's titles, or lack thereof, here. Rivertorch^FIRE_WATER 15:50, 7 September 2018 (UTC)

Most helpful, thank you! Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 16:54, 7 September 2018 (UTC)

Did Emily have a personal life? I am doing research on her for art class and need personal imformation.

Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.246.205.136 (talk) 20:24, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Emily Dickinson

change: 83.^ Habegger (2001), 498. to: 83.^ Habegger (2001), 498; Murray (1996), 286–287; Murray (1999), 724-725.

change: 84.^ Habegger (2001), 501; Murray (1996), 286–287. to: 84.^ Habegger (2001), 501; Murray (1996), 286–287; Murray (2010) 81-83.

change: Margaret O Brien to: Margaret Ó Brien

change: to replace the old one.[85] Emily once again was responsible for chores, including the baking, at which she excelled.

to: their former maid-of-all-work. [85] Emily once again was responsible for the kitchen including cooking and cleaning up as well as the baking, at which she excelled.[86]

change: 85^: Habegger (2001), 502; Murray (1996), 287. to: 85^: Habegger (2001), 502; Murray (1996), 287; Murray (1999), 724-725.

ADD: 86^: 86. Murray (1999), 723.

change: Murray, Aífe. 2010. Maid as Muse: How Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language. University Press of New England. ISBN 978-1-58465-674-6.

to: Murray, Aífe. Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson’s Life and Language, Lebanon: University of New Hampshire, Feb. 9, 2010 IBSN: 978-1-58465-674-6.

ADD: Murray, Aífe. “Miss Margaret's Emily Dickinson,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society, 24:3, Spring 1999: 697-732.

Eefah16 (talk) 17:04, 14 October 2019 (UTC)

In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866.[83] Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, Dickinson may have been too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing.[84] Carlo died during this time after providing sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years, Margaret O Brien, had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that her family brought in a permanent household servant, Margaret Maher, to replace the old one.[85] Emily once again was responsible for chores, including the baking, at which she excelled.

proposed text changes:

In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866.[83] Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, Dickinson may have been too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing.[84] Carlo died during this time after providing sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years, Margaret Ó Brien, had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that her family brought in a permanent household servant, Margaret Maher, to replace their former maid-of-all-work. [85] Emily once again was responsible for the kitchen including cooking and cleaning up as well as the baking, at which she excelled.[86]

citations for text as it appears now in wikipedia entry:

83. Habegger (2001), 498. 84. Habegger (2001), 501; Murray (1996), 286–287. 85. Habegger (2001), 502; Murray (1996), 287.

proposed changes to citations:

83. Habegger (2001), 498; Murray (1996), 286–287; Murray (1999), 724-725. 84. Habegger (2001), 501; Murray (1996), 286–287; Murray (2010) 81-83. 85. Habegger (2001), 502; Murray (1996), 287; Murray (1999), 724-725. 86. Murray (1999), 723.

secondary sources as they appear currently in wikipedia:

Murray, Aífe. 2010. Maid as Muse: How Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language. University Press of New England. ISBN 978-1-58465-674-6. Murray, Aífe. 1996. "Kitchen Table Poetics: Maid Margaret Maher and Her Poet Emily Dickinson," The Emily Dickinson Journal. 5(2). pp. 285–296.

proposed changes & additions to secondary sources:

Murray, Aífe. "Kitchen Table Poetics: Maid Margaret Maher and Her Poet Emily Dickinson," The Emily Dickinson Journal, 5:2 (fall 1996): 285-296. Murray, Aífe. “Miss Margaret's Emily Dickinson,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society, 24:3, Spring 1999: 697-732. Murray, Aífe. Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson’s Life and Language, Lebanon: University of New Hampshire, Feb. 9, 2010 IBSN: 978-1-58465-674-6.

Eefah16 (talk) 16:50, 14 October 2019 (UTC)

additional note

Dear Wikipedia, I am a scholar-advisor to the Emily Dickinson Museum and author of the Wikipedia entry on Margaret Maher, long-term maid-of-all-work to Emily Dickinson.

For some years I have put up with listing Habegger for my original contribution about servant impact on the poet’s literary output. Habegger is citing MY research in his book so I have provided a corrective that will lead interested readers to key articles. This includes the addition of the 1999 Signs piece which is listed because it is an article readers can access online and is therefore available worldwide.

thank you, Aífe Murray

Eefah16 (talk) 16:50, 14 October 2019 (UTC)

List of poems

There is now a list of poems at Wikidata: d:Wikidata:Lists/poems_by_Emily_Dickinson. Jura1 (talk) 14:00, 20 November 2019 (UTC)

Comma splice/parallel construction explanation

Before reverting this edit again, please read the following explanation.

A sentence such as "He was a member of the House, the Senate, and helped elect the president" is wrong because we cannot say

He was a member of

the House,

the Senate, and

helped elect the president.

The reason is that "He was a member of helped elect the president" doesn't mean anything.

We can fix it in a couple of ways:

He was a member of

the House,

the Senate, and

the committee that elected the president.

Or, the way I chose because it doesn't invent a committee:

He

was a member of the House and the Senate, and

helped elect the president.

Please be aware that this construction is correct, in contrast to the original sentence. Chenopodiaceous (talk) 19:58, 14 March 2020 (UTC)

Major Themes in Poetry

I added additional information in the morbidity theme section about her poetry. I added the connection to winter theming support from critic Edwin Folsom and its citation. Tkiss1 (talk) 07:36, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

Gendered Name Usage

There is a common and unfortunate bad habit in the way people talk about female artists (and female professionals of any kind) where they feel more comfortable referring to them using their first names. This article is rife with this bad habit, and it calls Dickinson "Emily" throughout. A precursory glance at any comparable male figure will show that they are almost exclusively referred to using only their surname or their full name. For instance, the entry on Whitman never calls him "Walt" except when explaining where the nickname came from.

Referring to female professionals in a systematically more informal way results in an indirect diminishment of their accomplishments. It implies that women are entitled to less respect than their formally-titled male counterparts. This practice is a holdover from when men dominated all professional fields and wanted to portray women as inferior and unable to compete at the same level as the men. Please consider revising this article so that it consistently refers to Dickinson in the same way it would refer to her if she were male.

142.113.239.44 (talk) 04:02, 21 October 2021 (UTC)