Dickinson, Emily - Amherst, MA

Emily Dickinson

Amherst, MA

N 42° 22.746 W 072° 31.074

The grave of Emily Dickinson, the Belle of Amherst and  arguably the most famous American female poet,  is located in West Cemetery, Triangle St., Amherst, MA .

Amherst, MA was the home of Emily Dickinson, the Belle of Amherst; arguably the most famous American female poet. She is world renowned for her brief, insightful poetry. The house she
rarely left and her grave-site are only a few hundred meters apart. She lived at her family home at 280 Main St. in Amherst and is buried in West  Cemetery in Amherst, MA.

The rectangular marble headstone is located in a fenced in family plot. The headstone is inscribed:

EMILY DICKINSON

BORN

DEC. 10, 1830

CALLED BACK

MAY 15, 1886

A bronze plaque in the fence is inscribed:

IN MEMORIUM 

EMILY DICKINSON

POETESS

ERECTED BY

THE DICKINSON KINFOLK

AUGUST 28, 1951

Here is her most appropriate poem - a classic example of her wisdom and style.

"Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity."

World Renowned American Poet, she was born in Amherst, MA and raised in a puritanical tradition, beliefs she would later challenge. Reclusive and shy, she never married but dedicated her life to writing poetry. Only seven of her poems were ever published in her lifetime. After she died, it was discovered that she had written a total of 1,775 poems arranged into four themes: Friends, Nature, Love, and Death. Many of her poems were published posthumously.