Although Emily Dickinson is considered one of America's utmost poets, she was not regarded as a key force until the twentieth century when modern readers recognized Dickinson's work as groundbreaking and unprecedented by any of the time. Dickinson was not recognized in the nineteenth century because when she died at fifty-six years of age, only a few friends and relatives knew of the nearly two thousand, of which only 12 were published anonymously, poems that went unpublished. Dickinson did not base her writing style on writers who preceded her. Although Emily Dickinson is considered one of America's utmost poets, she was not regarded as a key force until the twentieth century when modern readers recognized Dickinson's work as groundbreaking and unprecedented by any of the time. Dickinson was not recognized in the nineteenth century because when she died at fifty-six years of age, only a few friends and relatives knew of the nearly two thousand, of which only 12 were published anonymously, poems that went unpublished. Dickinson did not base her writing style on writers who preceded her. However, her knowledge of the bible, classical myths, and Shakespeare aided Dickinson to create allusions and references in her poetry. She also transformed popular church hymns from standard rhythms to free-form hymn meters, a depiction of her inventive originality. Her originality has not always been understandable. Dickinson was noted as "the most paradoxical of poets: the very poet of paradox" (Johnson, 26).…
