The Case of Johnson v. Franklin

This blog entry continues my discussion of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, and The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by R. W. Franklin (see my Goodreads blog post dated July 23, 2012).


When I found out that The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson edited by Thomas H. Johnson was not, in fact, complete – due to the fact that additional poems were discovered much later than Johnson’s publication date of 1955 – I purchased a copy of R. W. Franklin’s anthology to “complete my collection” of Dickinson’s poems. Recently, I began inspecting the two volumes to see just how different or similar they are. So far, I’ve compared a little over 300 of the poems.

A major difference between the two books is how the two editors ordered and numbered Dickinson’s works. Although both arranged the poems by year, there are significant differences.

Here’s how Johnson organized his volume:

“The date at the left, following each poem, is that conjectured for the earliest known manuscript; that to the right is the date of first publication. The order of the poems is that of the Harvard (variorum) edition. There, where all copies of poems are reproduced, fair copies to recipients are chosen the principal representation.”

Here is some of what Franklin said about the arrangement of his collection:

“The overall organization is chronological, reflecting a new dating and employing a new numbering….The numbering here is that introduced in Poems (1998), from which the texts also derive….About three fourths of the poems exist in a single source. For the rest, with from two to seven sources, the policy has been to choose the latest version of the entire poem, thereby giving to the poet, rather than the editor, the ownership of change.”

As a result of these different approaches, many poems have similar numbers (for example, J 110 is F 111, and J 245 is F 231). However, since the two editors had different methods in selecting which version of a poem to use, not all poems have closely associated numbers (for example, J 984 is F 192; and J 663 is F 274).

In most cases, the numbering is the only difference between a poem in Johnson’s collection versus one in Franklin’s. However, that is not the case for every poem.

MINOR CHANGES

In some cases, poems differ very slightly. For example, there is a very minor alteration in “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers,” J 254 and F 314: the final line in Johnson’s book includes a capital “M” with the word “Me” (“It asked a crumb – of Me”), and Franklin’s edition has a lower case “m” (“It asked a crumb – of me”). Is such a change significant? If this were an E. E. Cummings’ poem, the answer would be a resounding “Yes!” Is that also the case with a Dickinson poem?

Differences between other poems are not so negligible. For example, consider J 240 and F 262, “Ah, Moon – and Star!” Not only are there changes with how the lines of the poem are structured, the final lines from each vary quite noticeably. In Johnson’s book, the poem ends, “So I can never go!” In Franklin’s, the poem concludes, “And I cannot go!”

MAJOR CHANGES

Other poems differ quite noticeably from one another. Here is J 41:

I robbed the Woods –
The trusting Woods.
The unsuspecting Trees
Brought out their Burs and mosses
My fantasy to please.
I scanned their trinkets curious –
I grasped – I bore away –
What will the solemn Hemlock –
What will the Oak tree say?

Compare that to F 57, and note the altered pronouns – and the different type of tree:

Who robbed the Woods –
The trusting Woods?
The unsuspecting Trees
Brought out their Burs and Mosses –
His fantasy to please –
He scanned their trinkets – curious –
He grasped – he bore away –
What will the solemn Hemlock –
What will the Fir tree – say?

Other poems differ even more significantly. Take a look at J 217:

Savior! I’ve no one else to tell –
And so I trouble thee.
I am the one forgot thee so –
Dost thou remember me?
Nor, for myself, I came so far –
That were the little load –
I brought thee the imperial Heart
I had not strength to hold –
The Heart I carried in my own –
Till mine too heavy grew –
Yet – strangest – heavier since it went –
Is it too large for you?

Compare that to Franklin’s version of the same poem, F 295:

Father – I bring thee – not myself –
That were the little load –
I bring thee the imperial Heart
I had not strength to hold –

The Heart I cherished in my own
Till mine – too heavy grew –
Yet – strangest – heavier – since it went –
Is it too large for you?

In my next blog entry, I’ll continue this discussion and feature a few more of the poems in Johnson and Franklin that vary considerably in structure, in wording, and in both. Plus, I’ve uncovered a few other variations and differences that just might surprise you. Stay tuned!