Quotation by

Emily Dickinson

If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.

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Understanding this quote AI Analysis

Emily Dickinson means that poetry creates a powerful, intense sensation that feels like a sudden, overwhelming change in the mind or body. This vivid feeling, as if something important has been dramatically removed or altered, signals to her that she is experiencing true poetry.

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Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emoti…

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A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.