This is a good, almost complete collection of Emily Dickinson's poems. I skimmed over a lot, but read closely many others, especially ones I recognized as reading before.
If I had room for a library in my home I would buy this book. ( )

I kindly received a gift certificate for a book store so I put it to good use. One of my purchases was The collected Poems of Emily Dickinson.

Emily is considered one of the most important figures in American poetry and this is not the only copy of her poetry that I own.

This volume is split into four parts - Life, Love, Nature, and Time & Eternity. I tend to gravitate to her nature poetry.

What I like about her poetry is she was a recluse who wrote far ahead of her time. You recognize her appreciation for her garden and surroundings and much of her poetry is an expression of analyzing physical and natural science.

Her poetry is unconventional and she writes with the vision of a painter abroad though she spent the majority of her time in Amherst, Massachusetts. She uses a triad of essentials like abrupt line breaks and extended metaphors and readers obtain different angles due to different perspectives. She had an interest in life and death and wrote about it with honesty, and lack of pretension. ( )

It was quite the journey reading through Emily Dickinson’s collected poems. It was like quietly observing her go through life, and sharing in those experiences. Her poetry spoke to me on such a deep level.

I strongly recommend having a dictionary handy as much of her terminology is not of present day, but it’s certainly worth the effort to garner that much more meaning from her words. ( )

Utterly brilliant.

Although it's marked by time - and what really isn't? - in a way which isn't my marred, modern cup of tea, the sheer potency of Dickinson's language, rhythm, coinage of words and non-rhymes win me over completely, and take me to another level totally.

I shan't say more on the poetry itself, but the imagery painted is sharp, veering from "the usual" in a way that has lived for more than a hundred years and will continue living forever, I'm sure.

While this collection does not contain all of her poems, it is annotated with short sentences on names, places and references, e.g. to passages from the christian bible and other poets.

This collection's only real flaw: it's too short. ( )

Not sure how much "editing" Emily's friends and relatives contributed to this collection, virtually all of which are poems which Emily did not publish or even title before her death in 1886.

For example, the stark perplexity of "Going to Heaven!"

And it takes but little understanding to come to the realization that Emily's decisions about publication were utterly compromised by the reversals, hypocrisies, and gravity of the Civil War. And the relentless fraud of the Churches who prayed through all the suffering on all sides.

Finally, my readings largely concur with those who "see" that Emily Dickinson spoke robust and bold truth, with naked beauty, and unrelenting kindness.

Example for all who suffer curiosity and compassion:

Going to heaven!
I don't know when,
Pray do not ask me how,--
Indeed, I'm too astonished
To think of answering you!
Going to heaven!--
How dim it sounds!
And yet it will be done
As sure as flocks go home at night
Unto the shepherd's arm!

Perhaps you're going too!
Who knows?
If you should get there first,
Save just a little place for me
Close to the two I lost!
The smallest "robe" will fit me,
And just a bit of "crown";
For you know we do not mind our dress
When we are going home.

I'm glad I don't believe it,
For it would stop my breath,
And I'd like to look a little more
At such a curious earth!
I am glad they did believe it
Whom I have never found
Since the mighty autumn afternoon
I left them in the ground. ( )