&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RThe Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson&&L/I&&R, by &&LB&&REmily Dickinson&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&R&&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&RNew introductions commissioned from today’s top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader’s viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences–biographical, historical, and literary–to enrich each reader’s understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&RBorn in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1830, &&LB&&RDickinson&&L/B&&R began life as an energetic, outgoing young woman who excelled as a student. However, in her mid-twenties she began to grow reclusive, and eventually she rarely descended from her room in her father’s house. She spent most of her time working on her poetry, largely without encouragement or real interest from her family and peers, and died at age fifty-five. Only a handful of her 1,775 poems had been published during her lifetime. When her poems finally appeared after her death, readers immediately recognized an artist whose immense depth and stylistic complexities would one day make her the most widely recognized female poet to write in the English language. &&LP&&RDickinson’s poetry is remarkable for its tightly controlled emotional and intellectual energy. The longest poem covers less than two pages. Yet in theme and tone her writing reaches for the sublime as it charts the landscape of the human soul. A true innovator, Dickinson experimented freely with conventional rhythm and meter, and often used dashes, off rhymes, and unusual metaphors–techniques that strongly influenced modern poetry. Dickinson’s idiosyncratic style, along with her deep resonance of thought and her observations about life and death, love and nature, and solitude and society, have firmly established her as one of America’s true poetic geniuses.&&L/P&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LB&&RIncludes an index of first lines.&&L/B&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LP&&R&&LB&&RRachel Wetzsteon&&L/B&&R is Assistant Professor of English at William Paterson University. She has published two books of poems, &&LI&&RThe Other Stars&&L/I&&R and &&LI&&RHome and Away&&L/I&&R. &&L/P&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R
Often referred to as the father of English poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer was a fourteenth-century philosopher, alchemist, astrologer, bureaucrat, diplomat, and author of many significant poems. Chaucer’s writing was influential in English literary tradition, as it introduced new rhyming schemes and helped develop the vernacular tradition–the use of everyday English–rather than the literary French and Latin, which were common in written works of the time. Chaucer’s best-known–and most imitated–works include The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, The Book of the Duchess, and The House of Fame.