Emily Dickinson and Poem #585
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10th 1830, one year after her brother Austin and three years before her sister Lavinia, in Amherst, Massachusetts, to Edward and Emily Norcross Dickinson. The Dickinson children were raised in Christian tradition in a very prominent family in the quiet community of Amherst. Emily's grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson, was the founder and trustee of the Amherst College and the Amherst Academy. Edward Dickinson followed in his father's footsteps into the position as trustee of the Amherst Institutions, as well as many other powerful positions in his lifetime: from Chief Marshall of the railroad to positions on many political organizations, such as the United States House of Representatives. Unlike her father, Emily didn't enjoy the popularity and excitement of the public life in Amherst. Throughout her life, her mother was emotionally unattainable, and as Emily once wrote to a friend, her father was "too busy with his Briefs-t!o notice what we do." (qtd. in American Writers, 457). She filled the absences with poetry, and so she wrote to her heart and minds content. Poem #585, untitled by Emily, but later given the name Runaway Train and I Like To See It Lap Th
After looking deeper into the life and family of Emily Dickinson, the train seemed to be very symbolic to a number of problems Emily had been faced with. The new train system seemed to hurt Emily more than ever. First of all, her family was very involved in horse racing and riding. The new technology was replacing the gorgeous animals, and she was worried about how much technology could actually replace. If only she could see 140 years into the future and how technology is a massive part of every day living. Secondly, the train was bringing large loads of people into town and to her home. The following letter to Austin, #128, she complains: "Our house is crowded daily with the members of this world, the high and low, the bond and free, the poor in this world's goods, and the almighty dollar, and what in the world they after continues to be unknown-But I hope they will pass away" (Johnson 257). From this letter it seems she is definitely not content with all the traff! e Miles, was proposed to have been written during Emily's most productive writing period, 1862. This incredibly intelligent woman was reared in a world that had a major impact on her poetry, including poem #585. The poem has a definite link to what she had been through in the past and also what she was seeing in the present. Unger, Leonard., ed. American Writers. Vol.1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons Publishing Co., 1974.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1524
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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