I have always been an avid fan of Emily Dickinson. I’ve been reading her poetry since I was a child, and it has influenced my writing in countless ways. I even co-lead a Dickinson-themed workshop for the UoA Poetry Club in 2021.

Here are my top 7 reasons why you should read Emily Dickinson’s poetry in 2022.

Who was Emily Dickinson?

Emily Dickinson was an American poet born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was the only poet in her family, and wrote almost 1800 poems before her death in 1886. Although only 10 of these were published during her lifetime, she is ranked as one of the most famous and popular American poets. Her poem, ‘Because I could not stop for Death—’ is ranked by Lit Hub as one of the 32 most iconic poems in the English language.

Read on to find out my top 7 reasons to read Emily Dickinson in 2022.

1. Her poetry is relatable.

A lot of people complain that the poets of the past are “old-fashioned” and “outdated.” Not Emily Dickinson. While you can make a case for almost any poet writing something that remains relevant in this day and age, Dickinson ranks at the top. Her poetry encompasses every theme relating to the human condition, most commonly freedom, mortality, nature, and religion. There really is a Dickinson poem for every taste.

One poem I would like to single out is ‘This is my letter to the World.’

This is my letter to the World
That never wrote to Me —
The simple News that Nature told
With tender Majesty
Her Message is committed
To Hands I cannot see —
For love of Her — Sweet — countrymen
Judge tenderly — of Me.

Emily Dickinson

This poem, like most of Dickinson’s work, holds something for readers from many backgrounds. 

As a poet, I can connect with the feeling of writing poems that feel like a “letter to the World,” cast into the wide world for anyone to read, enjoy, and hopefully learn from. Sometimes, however, it feels like you are pouring out your inner thoughts onto a page, but no one “writes back.” 

As a nature-lover, I agree with her description of the “tender Majesty” of the natural world, something which it is more important now than ever to preserve. 

As an artist, or anyone with a specific passion, I can connect with the last two lines, asking my fellow “countrymen” or earthlings at large, to judge me fairly, and remember my works and my legacy fondly one day.

2. Her life is an inspiration to poets.

A domineering father, an insistence on always wearing white, poems hand-written and hand-sewed in little bundles, a thousand unpublished poems found in her desk after her death… it’s all quite compelling. 

Her persistence in writing during a time when women were forbidden to do something so “intellectual” sets a brilliant paradigm for artists from discriminated groups fighting to follow their passions. Only 10 of her poems were published during her lifetime, yet she continued writing till her last days. If more school-age children could learn about Dickinson in 2022, we might see more and more young poets putting pen to paper, or mouth to microphone.

The idea of a thousand unpublished poems also fascinates me. How many of us have scribbled down a poem idea on a scrap of paper and subsequently lost it? What about those poems that are so intimate, so private, that we don’t show them even to our closest friends? The idea of these being found one day, long after our passing, can give rise to conflicting emotions. Nevertheless, if those poems hadn’t been found, we wouldn’t see a book of Dickinson’s poem on the poetry shelf of every English-speaking bookstore to this very day.

Dickinson isn’t the only poet with a curious life story. The majority of poets, past and present, seem to live unique and fascinating lives. It leads me to wonder, does the lifestyle drive them to poetry, or does being a poet lead to all these other quirks and quests?

If more school-age children could learn about Dickinson in 2022, we might see more and more young poets putting pen to paper, or mouth to microphone.

3. Her poetry is beautiful.

It’s undeniable. Who can read a line like “If I can stop one heart from breaking/I shall not live in vain” and not feel inspired and touched? 

I find Dickinson’s writing so beautiful that I once printed out several of her poems to slather my walls with — cringe, I know. One of these was the famed ‘Hope — is the thing with feathers,’ a poem which probably contributed to my own obsession with writing bird-themed poems.

There are many great Pinterest and Instagram pages that feature Dickinson’s poems — check them out, or print out your own to brighten a plain wall.

4. Her poems are short and sweet.

For those who are put off by the length of classics like Keats’ Lamia, or even more so, a novel-length epic like Milton’s Paradise Lost or Homer’s Odyssey, the poems of Emily Dickinson are a perfect starting place. They are rarely longer than 10 lines, and are very readable. 

If you’re wanting to get into classic poetry, but don’t know where to start, Dickinson’s poems are a great way to ease yourself into the universe of classic poetry.

Many of today’s poets like to write things that are short, sweet, and “Instagrammable,” and Dickinson is a great role model if this is your goal.

5. You can learn a lot from her distinctive style.

Dickinson’s writing is recognisable for the mysterious use of the em-dash. The em-dash looks like a hyphen, but is the length of a letter m. Many have tried to analyse the use of this uncommon piece of punctuation, and it gives publishers no end of trouble. I like to see it as an extended pause or breath. It also gives the poetry a unique visual appeal.

You may have noticed that I occasionally use the em-dash in my posts. This is a “tip of the hat” to Dickinson’s style, and definitely something that I started to do subconsciously in my writing after delving into Dickinson’s poetry.

It can be a lot of fun to observe a writer’s quirks and techniques, and play around with them in your own writing. I’m not saying you should sponge off another’s style — besides, it would be pretty obvious if you were to start publishing imitation Dickinson poems. However, it is only by experimenting and learning from the masters that we can develop our own sense of style.

6. Her writing influences pop culture to this very day.

While I confess to not having seen the Apple TV+ series “Dickinson,” starring Hailee Steinfield, the show has done much to bring Emily Dickinson, and indeed the world of poetry, into the public eye. The youth of today enjoy a protagonist who is relatable — young, passionate, and perseverant. There is also a 2016 film about her, “A Quiet Passion,” directed by Terence Davies.

Dickinsonian phrases have been set to music by many famous musicians, including Jake Heggie and Aaron Copland.

Emily Dickinson has also influenced the Spoken Word poetry scene. I love Brendan Constantine’s spoken word poem ‘The Opposites Game,‘ which starts with Dickinson’s short poem ‘My Life Had Stood A Loaded Gun.’ I find it a very clever take on interpreting and teaching poetry to the younger generation. The author cleverly demonstrates that all children can be made to engage with poetry because of the universal themes of conflict and peace. You can watch the poem and its accompanying animation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO6527S5JOU 

7. You’ll never run out of wonderful poems to read.

As mentioned previously, Dickinson wrote over 1000 poems in her lifetime. In fact, the total number comes closer to 1800. If you were to read a poem a day starting in 2022, it would be almost 2027 before you had finished. 

It can really pay off to read several works by a single poet. Just as we read book after book by the same author, we can find endless enjoyment in following the themes and style of a skilful poet across their poems. With Dickinson’s poems being the perfect combination of short, relatable, readable, and inspiring, the world is lucky to have such a rich repository of her writing to turn to year after year. 

Conclusion

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my personal list of reasons to read Emily Dickinson in 2022. Why not read some more of her poems on Poetry Foundation and see how her poetry shapes your own writing and thoughts!

Comment below with reasons of your own, or share your favourite poems!