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Emily DickinsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“‘Faith’ is a fine invention” by Emily Dickinson (1891)
In this four-line poem, Dickinson characterizes religious faith as an “invention,” implying that organized religion is an institution created by people rather than a higher being. Just as she does in “This World is not Conclusion,” Dickinson criticizes blind religious faith and encourages a “prudent” (Line 3) combination of faith and scientific observation to understand more clearly the mysteries of the world.
“The Only News I know” by Emily Dickinson (1929)
Dickinson declares that she only wants information about the spiritual, describing her lack of interest in this world and her fascination with the life beyond. Just as “This World is not Conclusion” affirms there must be something after death, “The Only News I know” longs for revelations about the afterlife.
“I dwell in Possibility” by Emily Dickinson (1929)
Of all Dickinson’s poems, “I dwell in Possibility” perhaps best expresses her creative vision. The poem describes the imaginative power of poetry to reconfigure the world. For Dickinson, faith and science are not individually sufficient to answer the mysteries of eternity. Her poetry instead advocates a lifestyle of questioning and wondering without the need for a straightforward answer.
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird, came down the Walk
Emily Dickinson
A Clock stopped—
Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
Emily Dickinson
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
Emily Dickinson
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Emily Dickinson
Hope is a strange invention
Emily Dickinson
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
Emily Dickinson
I Can Wade Grief
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
Emily Dickinson
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I should die
Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the fall
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Emily Dickinson
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Emily Dickinson
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson