Emily Drops Out of School and Becomes a Recluse
In 1848 (at the age of 18) Emily Dickinson dropped out of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now named Amherst College). The Seminary had declared her to be “without hope” of any possible religious salvation. She had also rejected marriage proposals from suitors and moved back home for a life of virtual seclusion from society, where she became actively involved in gardening, domestic work, prolific writing letters to friends and associates, and composing some of the best American poems ever. She also had a keen interest in entertaining friends at home. But her main passions were reading and writing poetry. Her inspirations were the Bronte sisters and Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. She strongly disliked the poetry of Walt Whitman, which she regarded as overly long and didactic. By the early 1860s, she had published a handful of her poems in a local journal, The Springfield Republic. However, more of them were rejected by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Editor of the prestigious literary journal, The Atlantic. His advice to young poets was: “No editor can ever afford the rejection of a good thing, and no writer the publication of a bad thing.” However, he and The Atlantic did reject at least one brilliant young writer’s poetry!
Emily’s Frustration & Dilemma
It is difficult to imagine the frustration that Dickinson may have felt after being put aside for her views and lifestyle choices at such a tender age. I consider whether Emily, after having her poems rejected, might have tried to apply to join a social network like a 19th-Century Facebook.
Victorian Book
I will call such an imaginary social network, Victorian Book, and define its parameters by using what I know about 19th-Century realities. This may help us to assess how Dickinson might react if she had the same opportunities for publishing that are available to poets today.
It’s certain that such a 19th-Century social network would have special interest groups like gardening, cooking, domestic living hiking, and nature. Emily would be able to participate in those groups without leaving her home. There would also likely be groups for singles with potential courting and marriage opportunities. But she would most certainly not be interested in such groups. There would likely be opportunities for those wishing to discuss religious, philosophic, and social issues of the day. After her experiences at the Seminary, it is questionable whether she would want to join. And finally, there would most likely be the special interest music and arts groups that Emily might want to join to submit her poetry for discussion. Perhaps there, she might have a better chance of getting them accepted than she had when she offered them to major literary journals. But we cannot be certain that Victorian Book would agree to publish them. I consider the factors involved here.
Emily Applies to Victorian Book
In this imaginary excursion, I imagine three questions: What might be involved in a Victorian Book application process? How would its editors react to Emily’s applications to its various interest groups? What would Emily’s responses be?
A Shady Version of History
From Shady’s History Volume 9, Victorian Book could have been established in Massachusetts in the early nineteenth century. Its purpose was “to promote social interactions and cultural awareness among prestigious and faithful New England residents who were sincerely engaged in the various churches throughout the region.” The VB Board of Directors and Membership Screening Committee consisted of three prominent members of society: The Atlantic Editor Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Lymon Beecher, both an American Congregationalist and a Protestant Church Pastor and Leader, and the celebrated American poet and philosopher Walt Whitman.
Emily struggled with her decision to apply to VB, But after consulting with her sister and next-door neighbor, Lavinia, she decided to fill out an application. She struggled to answer most of the typical questions about age, biography, family position, marital status, education, religious affiliation, career milestones, interests, and hobbies and thought that the form was overly intrusive.
The committee noted the receipt of Miss Dickinson’s Victorian Book application and invited her to attend an in-person screening interview they were holding at Amherst College. Naturally, she declined this opportunity but invited the gentleman to come to The Homestead for tea and an interview in her home. They accepted her invitation because her father was a prominent official in Amherst College and an influential Massachusetts Congressman. Emily asked Lavinia and her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert to sit in for her application interview, as they shared many of the same interests as her and had viewed many of her poems.
Victorian Book’s Initial Positive Response to Emily
The Committee Chairman, Higginson, opened by thanking Emily and her sisters for their hospitality. He invited her to participate in the VB gardening, cooking, and domestic homemaking interest groups. Emily responded that she would be delighted to correspond with women who were interested in those types of activities, and thought that this was a good start to the interview.
Emily’s Questionable Biography
All three screeners next responded that they were all confused about Emily’s biographical submission – that they titled, “I’m Nobody:”
I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!
Whitman asked her why she failed to give her biographical sketch a proper title and added that the Committee was highly offended by her suggestion that they “were Nobody.” He reminded her that they were “three of the most important men in America,” and that “she should show some deference to them.” Also, Whitman wanted to know why Miss Dickinson would even want to join Victorian Book. yet remain unrecognized? After all, “our purpose is to promote the profile and accomplishments of each participant?” He added, “It is important for each man to celebrate his self-worth.” Emily responded that she thought such a pursuit would be “terribly boring.” Whitman flipped his notebook over and took extensive notes.
Suggesting That Emily Join a Singles Meet Group
Reverend Beecher then asked her to explain why a young unmarried woman would not be interested in corresponding with our “extensive pool of eligible and well-endowed eligible bachelors and new widowers.” He advised her that “she might miss out on potential excellent marriage opportunities?” Emily replied that she had no interest in writing to eligible bachelors and provided an example of a letter she wrote to one of them:
Why do I love” You, Sir?
Because—
The Wind does not require the Grass
To answer—Wherefore when He passes
She cannot keep Her place.
Beecher was most perplexed by this ambiguous answer, noting that “any single lady like herself with such positive family advantages and secure finances should be striving and praying for every opportunity to marry a good eligible Christian Man.” Emily looked at Susan, and they both laughed.
Religious Affiliation Left Blank?
Beecher asserted that he regretted that Miss Dickinson had left the religious affiliation blank on her application. In further checking with Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, he discovered that they had found that religious and school officials had declared “her to be without hope” of any possible religious salvation. He asked if she might provide any reasonable explanations for this scandalous declaration and whether she had reason to change her faith position. Emily responded that she deeply believed in God, Jesus, and the Bible her father had given to her. But “she found more interest in the God of nature than in the God of the church.” She supported this by distributing copies of her poem:
Some keep the sabbath going to church –
I keep it, staying at home –
With a Bobolink for a Chorister –
And an Orchard, for a Dome –
Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice –
I, just wear my Wings –
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton – sings.
God preaches, a noted Clergyman –
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to heaven, at last –
I’m going, all along.
The Reverend was highly disturbed by this response. He lectured Emily that her love of nature was admirable and that he too shared a keen interest in the outdoors. But, he needed to remind her of the fundamental tenants of the Congregationalist Religion that she had grown up with, mainly that “salvation is only possible by both faithful belief and regular church attendance.”
Emily tried to avoid the controversy by declaring that she would gladly forego joining the religion and philosophy groups. However, she would most like to join one of the Victorian Book Poetry Groups. “Perhaps this would give others a chance to see and respond to my poems.” Beecher told her that he doubted if a person with such misguided religious convictions could produce meaningful poetry. For example, he noted that a poem she did get published in 1861 in the Springfield Republic titled “I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed,” was not a suitable topic for a Christian audience:
I taste a liquor never brewed,
From tankards scooped in Pearl:
Not all the vats of Frankford Berries
Yield such an Alcohol!
Inebriate of air am I,
And Debauchee of Dew,
Reeling – thro’ endless summer days,
From inns of molten Blue.
Emily’s Poems and Views Would be Censored on Victorian Book
Furthermore, he considered the poem she wrote in 1861, he called “Wild Nights” was so shocking that it would certainly be heavily censored on VB.
Wild nights! Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile the winds
To a Heart in port, –
Done with the compass –
Done with the chart!
Rowing in Eden!
Ah – the sea!
Might I but moor tonight –
In thee!
Beecher asked if she was writing there about a personal relationship with God. If so, “this was not a topic that a mortal should broach.” Also, if she was referring to an intimate relationship with a man, it would be too scandalous to publish. Emily and Susan looked at each other and started giggling. In this issue, Whitman dissented somewhat from Beecher. He stated that he found the poem’s theme acceptable because he believed that God and man were united in body and spirit. However, he did find other objections to her poems, which he would soon explain. Beecher acquiesced somewhat to Whitman and invited her to send the committee examples of some other poems that might be more suitable for Victorian Book.
Emily was deeply disturbed by such harsh condemnation of her lifestyle choices, beliefs, and poetic submissions. She asked to take a short break in the interview. After consulting with Lavinia and Susan, she considered withdrawing her application to any VB poetry group. But they advised her to give the process one last-ditch effort. She went to her room and retrieved four poems, and asked the committee to consider two of them. We now call them “Hope is a thing called feathers, ” and “Tell the truth, but tell it slant-”
Walt Whitman Responds to “Hope is a thing called feathers”
First, she received a sharply negative response from Whitman on “Hope” is a thing called feathers:”
Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard:
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest Sea:
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
Whitman said that the poem was promising but was “far too short to be considered seriously.” He offered that an ideal poem should be well measured “leaves long.” He recommended that she abandon the overuse of silly metaphors like hope as feathers. “The self, he said, is a complete as both a physical and spiritual entity and didn’t need to be compared to a meaningless bird. Instead, “Miss Dickinson should celebrate her lot and life more and participate in civic associations that promote democracy and the achievements of our emerging American nation.”
Emily was despondent then and accused Whitman of not taking the time to try and understand her life or poetic themes. She informed him that she wrote that poem after being categorized as being without hope by religious officials at her school. “Sometimes,” she retorted, “hope is a very fragile feeling, and it can very easily and cruelly be blown away by others.” She said that she resented that others wanted to tell her what she must declare about her faith to be validated as a worthwhile person. She countered that “even in my laborious reading of your long poems, I thought that you would agree that nature provides its most valuable gifts without asking us for anything in return.” He turned his page and continued taking notes.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson Responds to “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—
Emily got a longer, but not less negative response from Mr. Higginson regarding her poem, “Tell all the truth, but tell it slant—”
Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —
Mr. Higginson informed “Miss Dickinson” that he found her poems “too unconventional.” He asserted that the verse went against the “always tell the truth policy” of Victorian Book. Emily interrupted and asked him if he really believed The Atlantic always wrote about the truth? Ignoring this question, he continued pointing out the faults of her poem. Furthermore, he interjected, “It contains two ridiculous and unnecessary dashes. Abandon them totally in the first and last lines, and in all of your poetry,”
He warned that she should check any primary school grammar book, where she would discover that words like “Circuit, Lightening, and Children should not be capitalized because they were not proper nouns.” He noted that her rhyming patterns are “imperfect and needed improvement.” For example, she might change the word “slant” in the first line to “right, giving the lines a better rhyme scheme. Thus, “my more pleasing sounding and looking improvement would then read:
Tell all the truth but tell it right
Success in a circuit lies
So bright for our full delight
Emily looked perplexed and said that those changes would completely change its meaning. He responded that “the average 19th-Century reader would not be very interested in the themes or style of your poems.” However, “if you would let me edit them, they might become more marketable.” Instead, Emily handed the committee three copies of the third poem she had retrieved earlier. This one suggested that she would regard any edits of her poems to feel like a surgeon was cutting the life out of her soul:
Surgeons must be very careful
When they take the knife!
Underneath their fine incisions
Stirs the Culprit—Life!
After that, Higginson quickly consulted with the committee and informed Emily that they had “rejected her application to the Victorian Book Poetry Groups, Continuing, they advised her “not to try to publish her poems again.” Furthermore, they asked her not to participate in any Victorian Book interest groups because “your views would be too unsettling to our members.”
Emily did agree with them and withdrew her application on the spot. She graciously informed the gentlemen that she “had no hard feelings toward anyone and welcomed them to correspond with her in the future. They got up from their seats and she thanked them for visiting, But on their way out, she handed each of the men a copy of her fourth poem in the format of a letter:
This is my letter to the world,
That never wrote to me,-
The simple news that Nature told,
With tender majesty
Her message is committed
To hands I cannot see;
For love of her, sweet countrymen,
Judge tenderly of me!
It is speculated today that she had prepared this letter for them in advance of her interview and application process.
Interestingly, outside of this Imaginary Journey, Higginson and Dickinson did correspond with each other throughout their lifetimes. Ultimately, he was the first to publish the first volume of 125 of her poems—but about two years after she died—
Mary Evans Ramsey ( a previous Litchatte contributor) wrote that she thought Dickinson “would never be comfortable in any group in which she had to conform to a predetermined set of standards, be they literary, social, and/or religious.”
We may conclude that after her initial rejections, Emily decided to forge ahead and write poetry freely without asking anyone for permission, or making any unnecessary concessions from the gatekeepers of literary publication. Did she willingly give up some possible minor recognition in her lifetime in exchange for the possibility of being “judged more tenderly” in the future? It may be hard for us to imagine someone doing that, but several of our greatest artists have made this sacrifice!
What do you think of the sacrifice she made?
On Emily Dickinson’s legacy, Evans Ramsey concluded: “I think this makes her a role model for the true artist who, free from the constraints of the unsolicited opinions of others, is able to create something entirely authentic.”
Please note your responses and questions in the dialogue box below – or send them to Editor, Murray Ellison – ellisonms2@alumni.vcu.edu
Murray Ellison received a Master’s in English Literature from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Doctorate in Education at Virginia Tech. He is married and has three adult daughters and a granddaughter He ‘retired’ as the Director of Community Corrections for the Virginia Department of Correctional Education in 2009. His MA thesis Edgar Allan Poe: Unravelling the Plot of the Universe was published in 2015. You may access it at www.scholarscompass,vcu.edu He founded Litchatte.com in 2016 and has since been its Chief Editor. He was also a founder and has been a Coordinator current of the RVA Classic Book Club since 2017 He is the Outreach Coordinator for the First Mennonite Church of Richmond and also contributes to music there. He is an editor for the International Correctional Education Journal and a Co-Editor of Mystic Verses(2016) by Shambhushivananda. He’s a volunteer tour guide for the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond Virginia. When tapped, he teaches adjunct English and writing classes at Richard Bland College of William & Mary College. His main passion is teaching literature and music classes for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Richmond and for The Shepherd’s Center Open University.
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