Emily Dickinson's Rich Conversation is a comprehensive account of Emily Dickinson's aesthetic and intellectual life. Contrary to the image of the isolated poet, this ambitious study reveals Dickinson's agile mind developing through conversation with a community of contemporaries.

Richard E. Brantley is Alumni Professor of English, Emeritus, at the University of Florida, USA.

Introduction PART I: GATHERING EXPERIENCE 1. Proclaiming Empiricism 2. Guiding Experiment PART II: EXTENDING EXPERIENCE 3. Gaining Loss 4. Despairing Hope Conclusion Appendix A: Empiricism and Evangelicalism: A Combination of Romanticism Appendix B: Locke and Wesley: An Essence of Influence Appendix C: Wadsworth and Dickinson: A Marriage of Minds