The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

July

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)

Forever is composed of nows.

— Emily Dickinson

Source: Wikimedia

The second of three children, Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, to an established family. Her grandfather was a principal founder of Amherst College, and her father was a lawyer and, later, a state representative and senator.

As a young girl, she attended Amherst Academy, where she first became interested in both science and poetry. Upon graduation, she enrolled in the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary and attended for just one year before returning home.

Dickinson spent the rest of her life in Amherst, and though she had close relationships with her family and a handful of friends, she was known to be reclusive, particularly later in life.

Although she did not often venture from her home, she was a prolific writer. She sent countless letters, which often contained poems. She died at home in 1886.

During her lifetime, she was not well known. In fact, only 10 of her poems were published while she was alive. Upon her death, her family discovered 40 handbound books—today known as fascicles—which she'd assembled between the years 1858 and 1864. The books contained over 1,800 poems.

It was Mabel Loomis Todd, the mistress of Dickinson's older brother, who oversaw the posthumous publishing of her works. In the process, Dickinson's fascicles were disassembled ...