"If I can stop one heart from breaking,I shall not live in vain;If I can ease one life the aching,Or cool one pain,Or help one fainting robinUnto his nest again,I shall not live in vain."
Emily Dickinson was an American poet whose compressed language and formal experimentation transformed lyric poetry. Although only a small number of her poems were published during her lifetime, her posthumous work made her one of the most influential poets in American literature. Her poetry explores mortality, faith, nature, and interior life.