I am dabbling in writing poetry and am greatly inspired by Emily Dickenson.  She was a prominent American poet who passed away in 1886
I learned about her in middle school! That was so long ago though... I know she had a somewhat tragic life. Can you tell me about her so I can remember?
She was raised in Amherst and actually lived much of her life as a recluse.  
Why was she a recluse? Or what happened to her?
I think part of it was she was considered pretty eccentric and she rarely allowed guests. Later on she did not even leave her bedroom.
That's very fascinating. So, what were some more positive points of her life?
She was incredibely talented.  She wrote 1800 poems, however only a dozen were published while she was alive
I see. what else?
capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends.
Although Dickinson's acquaintances were likely aware of her writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Dickinson's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that the breadth of her work became public. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, though both heavily edited the content. A 1998 "New York
the blue. I knew nothing about it. Friends rang to tell me and I was completely taken aback. I am surprised that so many people remembered Hilda, considering it was so long ago that I played her." She added in 2005 that she was amazed by the nation's enduring affection for Hilda. She said: "I've no idea why. I'm totally flummoxed. If they remember Hilda with such affection, then I'm happy and very flattered.. ..It means that I did a good job