My Letter to the World and Other Poems by Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson is the leading American poet of the 19th century, along with Walt Whitman, they constitute the two distinct pillars of American poetry. Her poetry, although written in the mid-19th century, heralded modernism and the literary movements that followed, and exerted a strong influence on major American and English-speaking poets of the 20th and 21st centuries.
What makes it stand out is not just Dickinson's particular style: the density of speech, the elliptical syntax, the poet's insistent focus on words, achieved with her famous capitals and hyphens. Nor is it only her thoughtful depth, originality and slight irony, but, above all, Dickinson's unconventional and daring gaze, which did not hesitate to challenge the conservative social and religious notions of her time, and – very importantly – to resist the prevailing poetic imperatives.
Dickinson carved her own solitary path, which over time proved to be the most groundbreaking and enduring.
