The earlier periods of her life included: Ma (Mars) period starting 03-21-1826: Her earliest childhood years Ra (Rahu) period starting 03-21-1833: This covered her early education years. She attended Amherst Academy (1840-1847) and spent one year at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Ju (Jupiter) period starting 03-21-1851: This was when she began actively writing poetry. The early 1850s marked the beginning of her most productive writing period. Sa (Saturn) period starting 03-21-1867: During this time, she was living in increasing seclusion at her family home in Amherst. This period saw her writing many of her most profound poems. Me (Mercury) period starting 03-20-1886: This period was brief in her life as she passed away on May 15, 1886, just after it began. Importantly, this was when her sister Lavinia discovered her cache of nearly 1800 poems after her death. What's particularly fascinating about Dickinson's timeline is that while she wrote nearly 1800 poems, only about 10 were published during her lifetime. Most of her work was discovered and published posthumously, after the Me (Mercury) period began. The bulk of her most intense writing occurred during the Jupiter and Saturn periods (1851-1886), when she was living her famously reclusive life in Amherst, corresponding with friends through letters and creating her poetry.