Born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst Massachusetts- which was the town her family found-. Emily had one brother, William Austin Dickinson and one sister names Lavinia Norcross Dickinson. She first attended Amherst College for about six years as a teen. After the six years she went to Mount Holyoke College for a year. Many teachers were germinal to her development as a writer. Although Emily did well in school she was frequently absent due to illnesses. The year she spent at Mount Holyoke College was the longest time she spent away from home. After she left school, she rarely left home. Emily Dickinson began writing as a teenager, Her early influences include Leonard Humphrey, principal of Amherst Academy, and a family friend named Benjamin Franklin Newton. Newton introduced Emily to the poetry of William Wordsworth. Soon after being home for awhile her mother Emily Norcross Dickinson suffered stroke in 1874 which left her paralyzed. For the next seven years Emily took care of her mother until she died in 1882. Later Emily wrote a poem about her mother called “When we were Children and she journeyed, she always brought us something. Now, would she bring us but herself, what an only Gift”. After her mothers death Emily became depressed and moved in with her sister Lavinia Norcross. After moving in with her sister she became very reclusive poet and never really went out of her home. Emily wrote over 1800+ poems, her first volume was published four years after her death. Emily Dickinson died May 15, 1886 from Nephropathy, disease of the kidneys.
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