"The Homestead"

Emily Dickinson's home for 40 years

I finally made it!

My TeacherTreks took me to Amherst, Massachusetts, home of Emily Dickinson. Emily fans (and blog followers) may recall from a past post on 2/23, that she lived and died in this house. She was a complex woman living a simple life.  Since I had learned and shared much about her after a visit to the Morgan Museum in New York, here I will share things I learned about the house particularly--and some ED trivia I didn't know.

The house was built for her paternal grandparents ca. 1813, and was updated and expanded several times during her lifetime. The Dickinson family owned the homestead until 1916, when it was sold to another family.

In 1963, The Homestead was designated a National Historic Landmark, and two years later the Trustees of Amherst College (a very nice college, I must say) purchased the house and began the efforts of opening it to the public.

The tour includes a visitor's center, a tour of two downstairs parlors, and 3 bedrooms upstairs, including Emily's, of course, since this is where she wrote the majority of her poetry. 

(Side note--no pictures were allowed inside. The external shots are mine, but the internal are from  postcards...I almost cried when the tour guide told me---ask my husband.)

This is the same desk that is in the corner of her bedroom, and while it is not original, it is a very close replica. The powerful visual is the size--a lot of words from such a small surface!

I learned 3 new fun facts. First, about 5 years ago a tour was underway and the group stood in Emily's room, when suddenly the ceiling in the room directly below crumbled to the ground! No one was hurt, but needless to say, all ceilings were quickly restored/repaired. When they came to Emily's room, the restoration team was able to uncover the original wallpaper of the room, and the room was then covered in the resorted wallpaper pattern:

This is very fitting, considering Emily's love of nature.

The Homestead was a working farm with a large vegetable garden, a barn complex with livestock, an orchard, and an ornamental garden.  The Dickinson family, including the children, participated in the intensive labor necessary for the upkeep of such a property. Emily was a primary cook, and she also enjoyed baking. It is said that during the times in her later years when she was hesitant about leaving the house, she would place some of her baked goods into a basket and lower the basket to appreciative children from the neighborhood.

The upper left window was Emily's---little kids looking for a sweet treat probably kept their eyes on that window!

Another way to bring the outdoors in was through a conservatory, a room with extra glass that may house plants and flowers. Emily's father had one built for her. It is currently under renovation.

Cats were a big part of The Homestead--about 30 at one time roamed the grounds (still not as many as Hemingway)....but EMILY DID NOT LIKE CATS! She would only allow 2 or 3 in the house at a time. (Her little sister loved them.) I'm trying hard not to let this fact affect my appreciation of her. 

Emily didn't like cats because they killed birds, and she looooooved birds. She did manage to include this cat/bird relationship in a poem:

She sights a Bird—she chuckles—

She flattens—then she crawls—
She runs without the look of feet—
Her eyes increase to Balls—

Her Jaws stir—twitching—hungry—
Her Teeth can hardly stand—
She leaps, but Robin leaped the first—
Ah, ****, of the Sand,

The Hopes so juicy ripening—
You almost bather your Tongue—
When Bliss disclosed a hundred Toes—
And fled with every one-

Before we left The Homestead, we took a chilly walk through the New England spring gardens (a nice way of saying that they weren't quite tidied up yet).

We spied some randomly growing hyacinths and a beautiful variegated daffodils (which I'm sure Emily would love)

AND THEN.............

THIS LOVELY GREY FRIEND!!!!!

HHHMMM....We saw no birds, but we did see him. Maybe Emily was right.

It was a very special visit and I know for a fact that when I read the poems of Emily Dickinson to my classes next year I'll be able to offer a whole new perspective on this woman and the place she called home.

RIP Emily. Thanks for your observations about life, love, nature, and eternity.

NEXT UP: Poe's birthplace (Bean Town) and place of "rest"