She Was One Of America’s Most Influential Poets, And Although Only 10 Of Her Poems Were Published When She Was Alive, Her Family Discovered That She Had Written More Than 1,800 Poems

Although she lived amongst family between the late 1850s and 1860s, Emily hardly shared any of her writing with them.

The only writing she shared were enthused letters she would write to a few colleagues like Samuel Bowles, the owner, and editor-in-chief of the Springfield Republican. Samuel published a few of Emily’s poems in the paper.

Although she preferred solitude, Emily did have her dog, Carlo, who was her famous companion and dear friend from 1849 to 1866.

Some scholars believe Emily may have suffered from conditions such as agoraphobia, anxiety, and depression, as she rarely left the house by the late 1860s.

Nevertheless, she continued to write, although by this time, things were more chaotic, and she stopped organizing her work.

By the mid-1870s, when Emily was in her 40s, many of her loved ones had passed. Carlo had died, and she never got another dog; her parents eventually passed away, and two of the friends she wrote letters to died within two years of each other. 

Emily’s mental and physical health continued to decline after all of these losses, and although she continued to write, she became bed-bound in November of 1885. Several months later, she died of heart failure in May of 1886 at 55.

After her death, Emily’s family discovered 1,800 poems she had written in confinement. Only ten of her poems had actually been published while she was alive.

In 1890, her sister Lavinia published Emily’s first poetry collection four years after her death. Her work received much critical praise and financial success. 

A full unedited compilation of Emily’s poetry, The Poems of Emily Dickinson, was published in 1955. 

Today, she is known as one of the most influential poets of the 19th century and is a significant figure in American literature.