Emily Dickinson's Poems: As She Preserved Them [Hardcover]

Emily Dickinsons Poems: As She Preserved Themis a major new edition of Dickinsons verse intended for the scholar, student, and general reader. It foregrounds the copies of poems that Dickinson retained for herself during her lifetime, in the form she retained them. This is the only edition of Dickinsons complete poems to distinguish in easy visual form the approximately 1,100 poems she took pains to copy carefully onto folded sheets in fair handarguably to preserve them for posterityfrom the poems she kept in rougher form or apparently did not retain. It is the first edition to include the alternate words and phrases Dickinson wrote on copies of the poems she retained. Readers can see, and determine for themselves, the extent to which a poem is resolved or fluid.

With its clear and uncluttered pages, the volume recommends itself as a valuable resource for the classroom and to general readers. A Dickinson scholar, Cristanne Miller supplies helpful notes that gloss the poets quotations and allusions and the contexts of her writing. Millers Introduction describes Dickinsons practices in copying and circulating poems and summarizes contentious debates within Dickinson scholarship.

Emily Dickinsons Poems: As She Preserved Thembrings us closer to the writing practice of a crucially important American poet and provides new ways of thinking about Dickinson, allowing us to see more fully her methods of composing, circulating, and copying than previous editions have allowed. It will be valued by all readers of Dickinsons poetry.

This book brings us as close as we can get to how [Dickinson] presented her work& Sparing us the task of deciphering the poets sometimes challenging handwriting and presenting intriguing variants, this edition demonstrates why generations of writers have been galvanized by Dickinson& This edition brings us that much nearer to what this exceedingly decisive and willful writer wanted. It sweeps away distractionl"