By Chivalries as tiny,
A Blossom, or a Book,
The seeds of smiles are planted —
Which blossom in the dark.
***
Hello friends,
Here's
something they probably neglected to mention in grade school: Many of
Emily Dickinson's poems, like the above (circa 1858), doubled as notes
or letters to her next door neighbor and sister-in-law Susan Huntington
Dickinson. Emily and Susan shared a deep emotional, intellectual, and
some would argue undeniably erotic connection — beginning several years
before Susan married Emily's brother Austin. For decades, the two
exchanged favorite reading materials, small gifts, goods, and notes
almost daily.
See also:
Open Me Carefully: Emily Dickinson's Intimate Letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson (1998) by Ellen Louise Hart and Martha Nell Smith and "Hymn for Lota" by Elizabeth Bishop.
— Ellen
Labels: Elizabeth Bishop, NPM