The High Priestess of American Letters

Through the Dark Sod--as Education--
The Lily passes sure--
Feels her white foot--no trepidation--
Her faith--no fear--

Afterward--in the Meadow--
Swinging her Beryl Bell--
The Mold-life--all forgotten--now--
In Ecstasy--and Dell--

Emily Dickinson's poetry is not easy reading. Her genius was unique and, in my humble opinion, is unmatched to this day. During her lifetime only a few of her poems were published--and those were grossly edited against her will. But as often happens with minds ahead of their times, her brilliance was recognized after death and she is now considered the foremost American woman poet. The qualification of "woman" before poet is unfortunate, although common. Her intellect and inspiration would compare favorably with any male poet's. Her use of language was extraordinary, her intent seemed always to enunciate vast meanings with the most economical word choices. This is the source of much of the difficulty readers find with her poetry. Every word is loaded--many with several meanings all of which work within the context. How does one choose? The beauty is that there are so many choices available. Dickinson should always be read with a dictionary nearby.

Dickinson's insight and introspection lead her reader to heights and depths of meaning that few will encounter elsewhere in a lifetime of experience, reading, pondering, or any other way. She puts into words (profoundly) things that simply cannot be put into words. I heard someone say once that she must have been psychotic, because she seemed to understand psychosis so well. The response to that is, she must have been dead, too, because she seemed to understand death so well.

Much has been written about Dickinson's mental state (was she bi-polar?), her life as a recluse, the mysterious man many assumed she loved, and the best female friend many others assumed she loved (erotically, that is). But her poetry is the first and best reason for reading anything by or about Dickinson. Dickinson's poetry often confronts relationships of power, and her own wish for empowerment. Consider, for example:

The Soul selects her own Society--
Then--shuts the Door--
To her divine Majority--
Present no more--

Unmoved--she notes the Chariots--pausing--
At her low Gate--
Unmoved--an Emperor be kneeling
Upon her Mat--

I've known her--from an ample nation--
Choose One--
Then--close the Valves of her attention--
Like Stone--

Dickinson's power is in her soul, her "aloneness." It is not in the ability to move people or even to be heard, but in her ability to shut the door to the outside and construct her own world--the world of an uncommon imagination and intellect made visible in her poetry. Although friends described her as small and timid, the poet was often bold:

I'm ceded--I've stopped being Theirs--
The name They dropped upon my face
With water, in the country church
is finished using, now,
...
My second Rank--too small the first--
Crowned--Crowing--on my Father's breast--
A half-unconscious Queen--
But this time--Adequate--Erect,
With Will to choose, or to reject
And I choose, just a Crown--

She could be small, as well, as in one of her best-known poems I'm nobody ... are you nobody too? In fact, Dickinson the poet can be many things and all things. The world she created in her poetry is inhabited by a myriad of fascinating personas and points of view.

The operative word in the title of the Johnson edition of Dickinson's poems is "complete." This edition was, until recently, the definitive collection of all of Emily Dickinson's poems. Thomas Johnson first published the collected poems of Emily Dickinson in 1955, in three volumes. But his feat is no mere collection. When Emily Dickinson died, her 1,775 poems were found in her bureau drawers, copied neatly onto small pieces of paper, bundled in groups (called fascicles in academia) and bound with ribbon. None were dated. The bundles did not appear to proceed chronologically or even, at first glance, thematically (many scholars have since found thematic connections). Johnson's publication was the result of years of research and analysis, in which he used handwriting analysis, comparisons with Dickinson's letters (which were dated) and extant letters written to Dickinson, and other methods in a complex formula to date each poem and place them in chronological order. Such an undertaking is inevitably flawed--the dates are at best approximate--but Johnson's methodology has garnered a great deal of admiration and respect among the academic community. His chronology has been considered generally reliable for the scholar's purposes. Johnson's collection was also the first to publish all of Dickinson's poems in their original version, with slant rhymes (or lack of rhyme), punctuation (or lack of it) and use of capitalization intact.

You may have noticed that I stated the Johnson edition was the definitive one until recently. R.W. Franklin has edited a new edition in three volumes, which expands a great deal on Johnson's (and is indebted to it, no doubt). The strength of the Franklin edition is that it contains several versions of single poems. Dickinson's fascicles often contained variant versions of poems, none of which were marked or in any way indicated which was the first or final version. Johnson selected what he believed to be the "final version" according to his research in putting together his edition. Franklin includes the variants, many of which have rather dramatic word substitutions, and for the most part refuses to choose a final or "correct" version. He also includes extensive commentary on the manuscripts. The problem with the Franklin edition is its price: $80 to $100. Until it comes down in price and a one-volume edition is made available, the Johnson edition should remain the primary choice for scholars and lay-fans alike.

If you just can't get enough of Emily Dickinson (I can relate:-), her letters are almost as good as her poetry, and include poems in many cases. I recommend Thomas Johnson's Emily Dickinson, Selected Letters. Another good collection is Open Me Carefully: Emily Dickinson's Intimate Letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson, edited by Martha Nell Smith and Ellen Louise Hart.

Additional resources for the Dickinson fanatic are listed below (keep in mind this is a very short list--it could be pages long--and is entirely subjective, comprised for the most part of my personal favorites).

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DICKINSON'S FASCICLES:
Cameron, Susan. Choosing Not Choosing: Dickinson's Fascicles.
(This book is pretty heavy going, even for a Dickinson scholar,
but contains illuminating readings of many of the poems.)
Oberhaus, Dorothy Huff. Emily Dickinson's Fascicles : Method & Meaning

FOR CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF DICKINSON'S POETRY:
Bennett, Paula. Emily Dickinson, Woman Poet.
(Excellent analysis, especially of religious themes.)
Farr, Judith, ed. Emily Dickinson: A Collection of Critical Essays.
(This book contains a variety of critical essays from some of
the foremost Dickinson scholars. The essays are selected to
cover a broad variety of themes and approaches.)
Farr, Judith. The Passion of Emily Dickinson.
(A thorough and illuminating analysis of Dickinson's poems
in biographical and cultural context.)

GENERAL ADVICE FOR CHOOSING A DICKINSON COLLECTION:
If you don't want the complete Johnson edition (publisher's price is $18 paperback), other collections are available. In general, if the cover of the book is covered with flowers and looks like a pretty Victorian daybook, beware: the poems have probably been edited to sound more like Hallmark cards than the work of a woman who was perhaps the most brilliant mind this country has produced. If the Johnson edition is nearby on the shelf, do some quick comparisons--look for poems with lots of dashes (they're the most likely to be edited). Also look for the names listed above (Farr, Bennett, etc.). If you find them in association with a collection, you can trust it.