Dickinson as Emerson's poet

    According to Emerson, one of the most crucial aspects of a good poet - and of good poetry - is the way it flows.  In his mind, the best words and images are wasted on a poem in which the form makes it sound stilted.  He felt that any form, even free verse, was totally acceptable as long as it helped to create the intended impact of the poem.  Whitman is more commonly seen as "Emerson's Poet", but I think that Dickinson's work also embodies Emerson's ideas on what makes a poet.

"For it is not meters, but a meter-making argument that makes a poem, - a thought so passionate and alive that like the spirit of a plant or an animal it has an architecture of its own, and adorns nature with a new thing.  The thought and the form are equal in the order of time, but in the order of genesis the thought is prior to the form" (1364).

     Dickinson definitely wrote that way, setting aside the contemporary styles of structure, meter, and rhyme in order to bring out a greater effect from the few words and short phrases that she uses.  Instead of focusing on making it rhyme or making sure that the meter stays the same, she only uses what serves her purpose and is not afraid to disregard it when it gets in her way.  Because of that, her poems have a unique power to them, since the reader is not distracted by the rhymes or continuous meter of the poem.  They are even required to concentrate harder on her poems than on many other poets' works, because of the short phrases and cut off lines.  In this, her style serves her very well, focusing the reader's attention on the words, and drawing them in to see the meaning behind the poem rather than just looking at the written form.


"I died for Beauty-but was scarce
Adjusted to the Tomb
When One who died for Truth, was lain
In an adjoining Room-

He questioned softly 'Why I failed'?
'For Beauty', I replied-
'And I-for Truth-Themself Are One-
We Brethren, are', He said-

And so, as Kinsmen, met a Night-
we talked between the Rooms-
Until the Moss had reached our lips-
And covered up-our names-" (1960).

     I don't think that Dickinson was trying to be Emerson's poet like Whitman was, but her style of poetry is, in many ways, similar to what Emerson was looking for.  For her, the thought was more important than the form, and that is what Emerson wanted.  He wanted poetry in which the idea is not overshadowed by unnecessary rhymes and meters, and Dickinson definitely provided that.  

Works Cited

Perkins, George, and Barbara Perkins.  The American Tradition in Literature.  12th ed. Vol. 1. Boston.  McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.