White Heat Part 24

"How happy is the little Stone": Fr 1570; "Come show thy Durham Breast to her who loves thee best": Fr 1572B; "Obtaining but our own extent": Fr 1573; "The Moon upon her fluent route": Fr 1574B.

"No Brigadier throughout the Year": Fr 1596.

"it is a cruel wrong to your 'day & generation'": HHJ to ED, September 5, 1884, Houghton.

"The kind but incredible opinion": ED to Thomas Niles, [April 1882], Letters, Letters, 3:725. 3:725.

"Further in Summer than the Birds": Fr 895D; "It sifts from Leaden Sieves-": Fr 291E; see also Fr 291D.

"I would not for the world rob you of this very rare book": Thomas Niles to ED, March 31, 1883, Letters, Letters, 3:769. 3:769.

"the Bird seemed true": Thomas Niles to ED, [April 1883], Letters, Letters, 3:769. 3:769.

"The Wind begun to rock the Gra.s.s": Fr 796; "A Route of Evanescence": Fr 1489; "Ample make this Bed-": Fr 804.

"Pupil" "Emblem is immeasurable-": ED to TWH, [April 1883], Letters, Letters, 3:773. 3:773.

"'And yet I live!'": TWH, "Sunshine and Petrarch," p. 310; "Antony's remark to a friend": ED to Otis Lord, Werner A 741a. Higginson revised himself-making the pa.s.sage worse-when he republished "Sunshine and Petrarch" in Oldport Days: Oldport Days: "'And yet I live!' What a pause is implied before these words! the drawing of a long breath, immeasurably long; like that vast interval of heart-beats that precedes Shakespeare's 'Since Cleopatra died.' I can think of no other pa.s.sage in literature that has in it the same wide s.p.a.ces of emotion." He returned to the subject in his 1888 sonnet "Since Cleopatra Died": MWH, "'And yet I live!' What a pause is implied before these words! the drawing of a long breath, immeasurably long; like that vast interval of heart-beats that precedes Shakespeare's 'Since Cleopatra died.' I can think of no other pa.s.sage in literature that has in it the same wide s.p.a.ces of emotion." He returned to the subject in his 1888 sonnet "Since Cleopatra Died": MWH, The Century, The Century, June 2, 1888, p. 256. June 2, 1888, p. 256.

"Since Cleopatra died I have lived in such dishonor, that the world Doth wonder at my baseness." [Antony and Cleopatra]

"Since Cleopatra died!" Long years are past, In Antony's fancy, since the deed was done.

Love counts its epochs, not from sun to sun, But by the heart-throb. Mercilessly fastTime has swept onward since she looked her last On life, a queen. For him the sands have run Whole ages through their gla.s.s, and kings have won And lost their empires o'er earth's surface vastSince Cleopatra died. Ah! Love and Pain Make their own measure of all things that be.

No clock's slow ticking marks their deathless strain;The life they own is not the life we see; Love's single moment is eternity; Eternity, a thought in Shakespere's brain.

"I hardly dare to know": ED to Louise and Frances Norcross, [March 1884], Letters, Letters, 3:817. 3:817.

"'Supernatural,' was only the Natural": ED to TWH, [late November 1862], Letters, Letters, 2:182. 2:182.

"Not 'Revelation'-'tis-that waits": Fr 500.

"Those-dying then": Fr 1581.

"Faith is Doubt Doubt": ED to SGD, [1884], Letters, Letters, 3:830. 3:830.

"What channel needs our faith": "Calm," in Thalatta, Thalatta, p. 183. p. 183.

"next to the yearnings of human affections": New World, New World, p. 177. p. 177.

"I hear robins a great way off": ED to Louise and Frances Norcross, [April 1873], Letters, Letters, 2:504. 2:504.

"The most triumphant bird": Fr 1285B.

"Please say it is not so": ED to TWH, August 6, 1885, Letters, Letters, 3:884. 3:884.

"Not knowing when Herself may come": Fr 1647C.

"Of Glory not a Beam is left": Fr 1685.

She was breathing with difficulty: see MDB, Emily d.i.c.kinson Face to Face, Emily d.i.c.kinson Face to Face, p. 67. p. 67.

"Emily seemed to go off": WAD, diary, May 13, 1886, Yale.

Bigelow diagnosed Bright's disease: I draw on the fine work of Norbert Hirschhorn and Polly Longsworth, "'Medicine Posthumous.'"

"It was settled": WAD, diary, May 15, 1886, Yale.

"Audacity of Bliss": ED to TWH, [spring 1886], Letters, Letters, 3:903. See also this early poem (Fr 145): 3:903. See also this early poem (Fr 145): A little East of Jordan,Evangelists record,A Gymnast and an AngelDid wrestle long and hard-Till morning touching mountain-And Jacob, waxing strong,The Angel begged permissionTo Breakfast-to return!Not so, said cunning Jacob!"I will not let thee goExcept thou bless me"-Stranger!The which acceded to-Light swung the silver fleeces"Peniel" Hills beyond,And the bewildered GymnastFound he had worsted G.o.d!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: RENDEZVOUS OF LIGHT "How large a portion": TWH, journal, May 19, 1886, Houghton.

"but not...that she would die": ED to TWH, August 6, 1885, Letters, Letters, 3:884. 3:884.

"bereft of Book and Thought": ED to TWH, [spring 1886], Letters, Letters, 3:903. 3:903.

"to take to Judge Lord": TWH, journal, May 19, 1886, Houghton.

"a favorite with our friend": TWH, quoted in Dear Preceptor, Dear Preceptor, p. 270. p. 270.

The honorary pallbearers: For details about the funeral, I have drawn upon TWH, journal, May 19, 1886, Houghton, and MLT to Mary and Eben Loomis, May 23, 1886, Yale.

"It was a never to be forgotten burial": Harriet T. Jameson to John Franklin Jameson, May 23, 1886, LC.

"into a little deeper mystery": MLT, journal, September 1, 1886, Yale.

"Not disappointed with the world": Springfield Republican, Springfield Republican, [May 18, 1886], clipping, Houghton. [May 18, 1886], clipping, Houghton.

"What a Hazard a Letter is!": ED to TWH, August 6, 1885, Letters, Letters, 3:884. 3:884.

"It is true of all of us": Part, Part, p. 139. p. 139.

"Through the solitary prowess": In Fr 790.

"Are you too deeply occupied to say if my Verse is alive?": ED to TWH, April 15, 1862, Letters, Letters, 2:403. 2:403.

"Deity-does He live now?": ED to TWH, [May 1886], Letters, Letters, 3:905. 3:905.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: POETRY OF THE PORTFOLIO "I have no doubt": Harriet T. Jameson to John Franklin Jameson, May 30, 1886, LC.

she took her "first lessons by studying the famous fossil bird-tracks": TWH, "Emily d.i.c.kinson's Letters," p. 444.

"her true Flaubert was Penelope": See the groundbreaking essay "A Consideration of the Poems of Emily d.i.c.kinson, 1973," in Howard, Paper Trail, Paper Trail, p. 11; see also Cameron, p. 11; see also Cameron, Choosing Not Choosing. Choosing Not Choosing. 272 "I was to have compiled the poems-": SGD, quoted in 272 "I was to have compiled the poems-": SGD, quoted in AB, AB, p. 115. p. 115.

"The Wind begun to rock the Gra.s.s": Fr 796D; "Col. Higginson, Dr. Holland, 'H.H.'": SGD to Richard Watson Gilder, December 31, 1886, NYPL.

"I know I have the gift of expression": MLT, journal, November 10, 1887, Yale.

"a notice of me in Woman's Journal Woman's Journal": MLT, diary, November 2, 1889, Yale.

Years later Vinnie would insist: See AB, AB, p. 357. p. 357.

the "wilderness" of them all: MLT to Mary and Eben Loomis, February 23, 1889, Yale.

By her own admission: See also Franklin, The Editing of Emily d.i.c.kinson, The Editing of Emily d.i.c.kinson, pp. 1617, 2325. pp. 1617, 2325.

"I felt their genius": MLT, journal, November 30, 1890, Yale.

"They seemed to open the door": MLT, journal, November 30, 1890, Yale.

Together they sifted through the huge stash: MLT to WAD, November 17, 1889, Yale.

"He staid an hour or more": MLT, diary, November 6, 1889, Yale.

"But I read him nearly a dozen": MLT, journal, November 30, 1890, Yale.

Steadfast and unflappable: That Higginson was reluctant about publication seems Mabel's self-serving interpretation after the fact; Sewall's apotheosis of Mrs. Todd is based largely on his prejudice in favor of her version of events and his animus against Higginson. Mrs. Todd's diary-the account she made the day she met Higginson-is at variance with the journal entry that she made just after the publication of the poems and on which Sewall and others have based their summary of events. It seems that in that journal entry, she was already fashioning a story that made her the primary mover of d.i.c.kinson's publication. See Sewall, pp. 220ff., and MLT, journal, November 30, 1890, Yale.

Though his hair grew thinner still: TWH to AH, November 7, 1888, Houghton; TWH, journal, November 7, 1888, Houghton.

"not only to that political organization": Frederick Dougla.s.s, quoted in Strange Enthusiasm, Strange Enthusiasm, p. 378. p. 378.

"internal difference-": In Fr 320.

"No Man can be a Poet & a Book-Keeper": Nathaniel Hawthorne to Elizabeth Hawthorne, October 31, 1820, in Hawthorne, The Centenary Edition, The Centenary Edition, 16:132. 16:132.

"There are many new to me": TWH to MLT, November 25, 1889, Yale.

"Softer than silence, stiller than still air": "The Snowing of the Pines," in Afternoon Landscape, Afternoon Landscape, p. 26. p. 26.

"Safe in their Alabaster Chambers-": Fr 124.

"O lake of boyish dreams! I linger round": "Sea-Gulls at Fresh Pond," in Afternoon Landscape, Afternoon Landscape, p. 26. p. 26.

"I cannot reach you": TWH to ED, May 11, 1869, Houghton.

"beyond all worlds, all s.p.a.ce, all thought": "Astra Castra," in Afternoon Landscape, Afternoon Landscape, p. 58. The full text of "Astra Castra" reads: p. 58. The full text of "Astra Castra" reads: Somewhere betwixt me and the farthest star, Or else beyond all worlds, all s.p.a.ce, all thought, Dwells that freed spirit, now transformed and taught To move in orbits where the immortals are.Does she rejoice or mourn? Perchance from far Some earthly errand she but now has sought, By instantaneous ways among us brought, Ways to which night and distance yield no bar.Could we but reach and touch that wayward will On earth so hard to touch, would she be found Controlled or yet impetuous, free or bound,Tameless as ocean, or serene and still?

If in her heart one eager impulse stirs, Could heaven itself calm that wild mood of hers?

Edelstein, in Strange Enthusiasm, Strange Enthusiasm, p. 345, rightly points out the connection between this poem and ED. p. 345, rightly points out the connection between this poem and ED.

that "certain Slant of light": Fr 320.

"A contained those of most original thought": Unsigned, undated reminiscence in the MLT Papers, folder 12, box 68, Yale.

"My brain fairly reels": MLT to WAD, November 17, 1889, Yale.

"Emily d.i.c.kinson's poems": TWH, journal, November 20, 1889, Houghton.

"My confidence in their availability availability": TWH, quoted in AB, AB, p. 35. p. 35.

"Perhaps you can suggest more subdivisions": TWH to MLT, November 25, 1889, Yale.

"I am at work with many interruptions on the poems": TWH to MLT, December 19, 1889, Yale.

"You are acting for me & not not yourself": LD to MLT, March 4, 1890, Yale. yourself": LD to MLT, March 4, 1890, Yale.

he had "selected and arranged": TWH to LD, April 8, 1890, quoted in AB, AB, p. 51. Mabel Todd's daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham, copied and arranged the letters, now at Yale, for her publication of them; I have not located the originals. p. 51. Mabel Todd's daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham, copied and arranged the letters, now at Yale, for her publication of them; I have not located the originals.

Houghton Mifflin thought he had lost his mind: see AB, AB, p. 51. p. 51.

"unwise to perpetuate": Thomas Niles, quoted in MLT, journal, November 30, 1890, Yale.

"which shall be exempt from copyright": Thomas Niles to TWH, June 10, 1889, quoted in AB, AB, p. 53. p. 53.

"came very near to that indefinable quality": Arlo Bates, quoted in AB, AB, p. 52. p. 52.

"I changed words here and there": MLT, journal, November 30, 1890, Yale.

"I find with dismay": TWH to MLT, July 6, 1890, Yale; "'I shall know why, when time is over'": Fr 215.

"I died for Beauty-": Fr 448. See AB, AB, p. 41, though Bingham did not evidently know which poem the editors discussed. p. 41, though Bingham did not evidently know which poem the editors discussed.

"These are the days when Birds come back-": Fr 122.

"The Gra.s.s so little has to do": Fr 379.

"It cannot go in so": TWH, quoted in AB, AB, p. 58. Since I cannot find the original letter and Higginson seldom used exclamation marks, I do wonder if Mabel Todd performed some of what her daughter called "creative editing" on Higginson. p. 58. Since I cannot find the original letter and Higginson seldom used exclamation marks, I do wonder if Mabel Todd performed some of what her daughter called "creative editing" on Higginson.

"Further in Summer than the Birds": Fr 895D; "It sifts from Leaden Sieves-": Fr 291E; "My Cricket and the Snow": ED to Thomas Niles, [March 1883], Letters, Letters, 3:768. 3:768.

"not believe, myself, in naming them": MLT, journal, November 30, 1890, Yale.

"was exceedingly loath to a.s.sign t.i.tles to any of them": MLT, quoted in AB, AB, p. 57. p. 57.

"Almost!": "Within my reach!" Fr 69; "The Secret": "Some things that fly there be-," Fr 68; "Dawn": "When Night is almost done-," Fr 679; "Real": "I like a look of Agony," Fr 339; "Setting Sail": "Exultation is the going," Fr 143; "Too Late": "Delayed till she had ceased to know-," Fr 67; "Why?": "The b.u.mble of a Bee-," Fr 217.

"Presentiment is": "Presentiment-is that long shadow-on the Lawn-," Fr 487; "A wounded deer": "A wounded wounded Deer-leaps highest-," Fr 181; "The brain": "The Brain, within it's Groove," Fr 563; "I've seen": "I've seen a Dying Eye,": Fr 648; "I reason": "I reason, Earth is short-," Fr 403. Deer-leaps highest-," Fr 181; "The brain": "The Brain, within it's Groove," Fr 563; "I've seen": "I've seen a Dying Eye,": Fr 648; "I reason": "I reason, Earth is short-," Fr 403.

"Because I could not stop for Death": Fr 479.

"Two swimmers wrestled on the spar-": Fr 227.

"Death and Life": See "Apparently with no surprise," Fr 1668.

"I dare say you are aware": LD, quoted in AB, AB, p. 60. p. 60.