What is the author's style in The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson?

Because of her distinctive style, the language of Emily Dickinson's poetry can seem baffling to first time readers. She often uses unusual combinations of items in her poems. In one poem, for instance, she writes about pianos in the woods. She also often refers to graves as houses. Finally Emily often refers to herself a wife. It is well known that Emily lived as a recluse and was never married.

Emily's poetic devices are also unique. Although her lines are iambic, meaning they contain an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, she follows no set rhyming scheme. The meaning of some of her poetry is unmistakably clear while the meaning of other poems seems masked. In her imagery Emily borrows terminology from law, the Bible and nature as well as Greek mythology. Finally, Emily often uses personification in her poems. One of her more common techniques is to personify items found in nature such as flowers, animals, and the sun, moon, and stars. Ideas such as death and immortality are also given human characteristics in some poems.