Metaphysical and Defiant Poetics of Emily Dickinson and Lesya Ukrainka

<p dir="ltr">This article conducts a comparative analysis of the poetic works of the American poet Emily Dickinson and the Ukrainian poet and playwright Lesya Ukrainka. Despite their distinct cultural and historical contexts, Dickinson writing in post-Calvinist New England and Ukrainka within the national revival of a stateless Ukraine, both poets exhibit remarkable parallels in their intellectual defiance and metaphysical inquiry. This study argues that their shared experience of chronic illness and social limitation became a crucible for the development of a powerful, introspective voice that challenges patriarchal, religious, and existential orthodoxies. Through an examination of their thematic preoccupations with death, nature, and the role of the soul, as well as their innovative use of personification and mythological frameworks, this article demonstrates how Dickinson and Ukrainka crafted unique poetic idioms of profound resilience and intellectual sovereignty.</p>