The Brilliance of a Poet in Different Musical Works: Exploring the Poetry of Emily Dickinson

Abstract

It is easy to see that many composers’ success throughout Western music history is due to the perfect match between their songs and lyrics. This phenomenon is lateral evidence of the importance of beautiful poetry for composers. A good poem can provide different inspiration for many composers. In music and other artistic fields, creators have always faced the same dilemma: How do they highlight their creations in a blossoming body of work? How do they reform or innovate after peaking at a certain point in a field? In this paper, we will take a look at the poet Emily Dickinson and four songs based on her poetry, examining how different composers bring out the unique beauty of her works.