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The Letters of Emily Dickinson
The definitive edition of Emily Dickinson’s correspondence, expanded and revised for the first time in over sixty years.
Emily Dickinson was a letter writer before she was a poet. And it was through letters that she shared prose reflections―alternately humorous, provocative, affectionate, and philosophical―with her extensive community. While her letters often contain poems, and some letters consist entirely of a single poem, they also constitute a rich genre all their own. Through her correspondence, Dickinson appears in her many facets as a reader, writer, and thinker; social commentator and comedian; friend, neighbor, sister, and daughter.
The Letters of Emily Dickinson is the first collected edition of the poet’s correspondence since 1958. It presents all 1,304 of her extant letters, along with the small number available from her correspondents. Almost 300 are previously uncollected, including letters published after 1958, letters more recently discovered in manuscript, and more than 200 “letter-poems” that Dickinson sent to correspondents without accompanying prose. This edition also redates much of her correspondence, relying on records of Amherst weather patterns, historical events, and details about flora and fauna to locate the letters more precisely in time. Finally, updated annotations place Dickinson’s writing more firmly in relation to national and international events, as well as the rhythms of daily life in her hometown. What emerges is not the reclusive Dickinson of legend but a poet firmly embedded in the political and literary currents of her time.
Dickinson’s letters shed light on the soaring and capacious mind of a great American poet and her vast world of relationships. This edition presents her correspondence anew, in all its complexity and brilliance.
Emily Dickinson was a letter writer before she was a poet. And it was through letters that she shared prose reflections―alternately humorous, provocative, affectionate, and philosophical―with her extensive community. While her letters often contain poems, and some letters consist entirely of a single poem, they also constitute a rich genre all their own. Through her correspondence, Dickinson appears in her many facets as a reader, writer, and thinker; social commentator and comedian; friend, neighbor, sister, and daughter.
The Letters of Emily Dickinson is the first collected edition of the poet’s correspondence since 1958. It presents all 1,304 of her extant letters, along with the small number available from her correspondents. Almost 300 are previously uncollected, including letters published after 1958, letters more recently discovered in manuscript, and more than 200 “letter-poems” that Dickinson sent to correspondents without accompanying prose. This edition also redates much of her correspondence, relying on records of Amherst weather patterns, historical events, and details about flora and fauna to locate the letters more precisely in time. Finally, updated annotations place Dickinson’s writing more firmly in relation to national and international events, as well as the rhythms of daily life in her hometown. What emerges is not the reclusive Dickinson of legend but a poet firmly embedded in the political and literary currents of her time.
Dickinson’s letters shed light on the soaring and capacious mind of a great American poet and her vast world of relationships. This edition presents her correspondence anew, in all its complexity and brilliance.
976 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2024
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About the author
Emily Dickinson
1,551 books6,828 followersEmily Dickinson was an American poet who, despite the fact that less than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime, is widely considered one of the most original and influential poets of the 19th century.
Dickinson was born to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence.
Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime.The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends.
Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Emily's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that the breadth of Dickinson's work became apparent. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, both of whom heavily edited the content.
A complete and mostly unaltered collection of her poetry became available for the first time in 1955 when The Poems of Emily Dickinson was published by scholar Thomas H. Johnson. Despite unfavorable reviews and skepticism of her literary prowess during the late 19th and early 20th century, critics now consider Dickinson to be a major American poet.
For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/emily-di...
Dickinson was born to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence.
Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime.The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation.Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends.
Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Emily's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that the breadth of Dickinson's work became apparent. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, both of whom heavily edited the content.
A complete and mostly unaltered collection of her poetry became available for the first time in 1955 when The Poems of Emily Dickinson was published by scholar Thomas H. Johnson. Despite unfavorable reviews and skepticism of her literary prowess during the late 19th and early 20th century, critics now consider Dickinson to be a major American poet.
For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/emily-di...
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 14, 2020
Behold, unwrap the highest genius. Like Keats alone among poets, Dickinson's letters exhibit that genius. In fact, she compares winter to, " Keats's bird, 'who hops and hops in little journeys.'" Andrew Marvell's letters, for instance, are humdrum affairs mostly written in his public voice as parliamentary representative. ED writes with her poet's ear, "Friends are gems--infrequent" (II.352, 1859). Or, check this sentiment which would compound among moderns (even inaugural poets): "I have heard many notedly Bad readers, and a fine one would be almost a fairy surprise" (II.345, Jan '59).
Her verses punctuate her letters, letters which are often as epigrammatic as her verse; in her last year, "Fear makes us all martial." Apply that to the gun promoters today.
One two month visit to the UK for research, I would read a paragraph in Gilbert White every day, as a Naturalist's Bible. Decades earlier, I did the same with Dickinson's letters. One can open them at random, and find within a page or two something unprecedented and yet familiar, like this today.
After telling Loo (L Norcross) about the vegetable she sent, to be eaten with mustard, she observes:
"I enjoy much with a precious fly, during sister's absence, not one of your blue monsters, but a timid creature, that hops from pane to pane of her white house, so very cheerfully, and hums and thrums, a sort of speck piano."
Then she adds, almost as surprisingly, "Tell Vinnie I'll kill him the day she comes, for I sha'n't need him any more, and she don't mind flies" we'd say, she Does mind them (II.353).
There are revelations about her famous personal avoidance of others; from the friends/gems letter to Loo, she confides, "For you remember, dear, you are one of the ones from whom I do not run away! I keep an ottoman in my heart exclusively for you." And she reveals with profundity some of her avoidance: "My own words so burn and chill me that the temperature of other minds is too new an awe" (to Chickering, 1883).
Her epistolary attentions range far, including of course, her assessment of the form in which she writes," A letter always seemed to me like Immortality, for is it not the mind alone, without corporeal friend?" (1882).
And she even appears to have said, like the Reformation martyrs, her own last words, but in a letter: "Little Cousins, Called back."
Here she immortalizes a book title (by one Conway) she had read, so her last words are also a literary allusion.
Her verses punctuate her letters, letters which are often as epigrammatic as her verse; in her last year, "Fear makes us all martial." Apply that to the gun promoters today.
One two month visit to the UK for research, I would read a paragraph in Gilbert White every day, as a Naturalist's Bible. Decades earlier, I did the same with Dickinson's letters. One can open them at random, and find within a page or two something unprecedented and yet familiar, like this today.
After telling Loo (L Norcross) about the vegetable she sent, to be eaten with mustard, she observes:
"I enjoy much with a precious fly, during sister's absence, not one of your blue monsters, but a timid creature, that hops from pane to pane of her white house, so very cheerfully, and hums and thrums, a sort of speck piano."
Then she adds, almost as surprisingly, "Tell Vinnie I'll kill him the day she comes, for I sha'n't need him any more, and she don't mind flies" we'd say, she Does mind them (II.353).
There are revelations about her famous personal avoidance of others; from the friends/gems letter to Loo, she confides, "For you remember, dear, you are one of the ones from whom I do not run away! I keep an ottoman in my heart exclusively for you." And she reveals with profundity some of her avoidance: "My own words so burn and chill me that the temperature of other minds is too new an awe" (to Chickering, 1883).
Her epistolary attentions range far, including of course, her assessment of the form in which she writes," A letter always seemed to me like Immortality, for is it not the mind alone, without corporeal friend?" (1882).
And she even appears to have said, like the Reformation martyrs, her own last words, but in a letter: "Little Cousins, Called back."
Here she immortalizes a book title (by one Conway) she had read, so her last words are also a literary allusion.
August 5, 2022
I died. This book killed me. You're reading the review of either a zombie, ghost or a kami.
This book was amazing. It's just amazing to me how lively and frolicsome Emily Dickinson's letters/letter-poems were... yet when needed to be, the seriousness and gravitas were present. Even at such a young age (18), she had such a witty and vivid mind.
The allusions to nature, the allegories, the imagery, the double entendre, the tenderness, the love, the care, her never-ending desire to think about thoughts... This woman was at a whole different level. A philosopher in her own right. Her writing style just makes her jump out of the pages...
At one point I just decided that, since I need to digest some of her ideas, I had to read only 15-20 pages per day (top)... to give it time to sink in.
So... it is a privilege to be alive... and it is a privilege to be able to read... and it is an even bigger privilege to be able to read Emily Dickinson's poetry, ruminate upon it and try to understand the many layers of it or perhaps fail to do so.
___
This is the edited version of Mabel Loomis Todd (MLT) which is public domain (that's why I got it). We all know now that she completely erased Sue Gilbert (SG) from history, so yeah... not one single letter dedicated to whom seemed to have been ED's one true love... But one can tell very easily that MLT really respected ED's craft. She recognised greatness and was smart enough to put into ink and have it published.
I can only imagine how good, candid and vulnerable are the letters addressed to SG.
This book was amazing. It's just amazing to me how lively and frolicsome Emily Dickinson's letters/letter-poems were... yet when needed to be, the seriousness and gravitas were present. Even at such a young age (18), she had such a witty and vivid mind.
The allusions to nature, the allegories, the imagery, the double entendre, the tenderness, the love, the care, her never-ending desire to think about thoughts... This woman was at a whole different level. A philosopher in her own right. Her writing style just makes her jump out of the pages...
At one point I just decided that, since I need to digest some of her ideas, I had to read only 15-20 pages per day (top)... to give it time to sink in.
“I find ecstasy in living; the mere sense of living is joy enough.”
So... it is a privilege to be alive... and it is a privilege to be able to read... and it is an even bigger privilege to be able to read Emily Dickinson's poetry, ruminate upon it and try to understand the many layers of it or perhaps fail to do so.
___
This is the edited version of Mabel Loomis Todd (MLT) which is public domain (that's why I got it). We all know now that she completely erased Sue Gilbert (SG) from history, so yeah... not one single letter dedicated to whom seemed to have been ED's one true love... But one can tell very easily that MLT really respected ED's craft. She recognised greatness and was smart enough to put into ink and have it published.
I can only imagine how good, candid and vulnerable are the letters addressed to SG.
August 20, 2011
I found some sections to be really interesting and entertaining, but it was just too much of the same stuff over and over. The letter she wrote when she was 13-14 shows that she was a certifiable genius, ridiculous. I also think she's one of the most mysterious people in the history of the world, if not #1.
March 12, 2025
This is for those who love further examination of Dickinson's language in everyday contexts. It's not necessarily a riveting page-turner to be plowed through quickly, but instead savored in short reading bites over a longer stretch of time. Although I enjoyed it, a LOT, this thick read isn't for everyone and def. not for those approaching Dickinson for the first time.
October 3, 2019
Two of the things especially noticed in Miss Dickinson’s letters are her Biblical allusions and quotations, and her notice and knowledge of countless things in nature. I can well imagine the letters included in a literature anthology with the editors feeling obligated to footnote the Biblical allusions for college students of today who no doubt have much less knowledge about the Bible than those of earlier generations. With footnotes for the regional flora and fauna Dickinson cites, the notes might well come to half of each page.
A letter in her 15th year has her naming the constellations. The same letter asks her friend to “sit down prepared for a long siege in the shape of a bundle of nonsense from friend E.”
She personifies such unusual things as a common cold and a fly, referring to the latter as a “little man.”
In her 20th year, Dickinson includes herself among the young and active who tell “dear ‘Father Mortality,’ get out of the way if you please; we will call if we ever want you.”
There are often doubts about her own spirituality. She says, “Christ Jesus will love you more, I’m afraid he don’t love me any.” She offers to sing to her cousins because she cannot pray. To Helen Hunt Jackson, who had a lame foot, Dickinson says she would intercede for her if she knew how to pray. She then calls herself a pagan. In another letter she admits being scared by a sermon on death and judgment.
The poet seems to have known herself and her future very well early in life. In her 23rd year she says it is improbable she will leave home.
She is thoroughly absorbed in her letters, imagining scenes with the recipients or remote settings from which she’s writing. She once imagines herself writing while paddling the Susquehanna. She closes one letter by asking the readers to close their eyes while she gives the benediction.
Just as in her poetry, she was skillful with metaphors. To her cousins, she has “more to say to you than March has to the maples.”
To her cousins, Dickinson also refers to her “weary life in the second story” mourning to hear from them.
Lastly, she often speaks of poets and authors whose books she has read or whose reputations she has knowledge of.
From abroad there is Dickens, George Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, Robert and Elizabeth Browning, Byron. At home there is Hawthorne, Howells, Lowell, Holmes, Stowe, Whittier. When her mentor, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, mentions Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, Dickinson replies that she’s never read it, “but was told that it was disgraceful.”
The editor of the book acknowledges that she has left out “purely personal” portions of Emily’s letters, has not published every letter she had access to and that many people she had asked letters from could not locate or had destroyed letters they’d received from the poet. Dickinson’s letters to herself she has also not kept. Nonetheless, those letters included seem like a good representation, and greatly add to our knowledge of the admittedly reclusive but observant poet who would have been a delightful friend to call one’s own. Her letters are poetry in themselves.
A letter in her 15th year has her naming the constellations. The same letter asks her friend to “sit down prepared for a long siege in the shape of a bundle of nonsense from friend E.”
She personifies such unusual things as a common cold and a fly, referring to the latter as a “little man.”
In her 20th year, Dickinson includes herself among the young and active who tell “dear ‘Father Mortality,’ get out of the way if you please; we will call if we ever want you.”
There are often doubts about her own spirituality. She says, “Christ Jesus will love you more, I’m afraid he don’t love me any.” She offers to sing to her cousins because she cannot pray. To Helen Hunt Jackson, who had a lame foot, Dickinson says she would intercede for her if she knew how to pray. She then calls herself a pagan. In another letter she admits being scared by a sermon on death and judgment.
The poet seems to have known herself and her future very well early in life. In her 23rd year she says it is improbable she will leave home.
She is thoroughly absorbed in her letters, imagining scenes with the recipients or remote settings from which she’s writing. She once imagines herself writing while paddling the Susquehanna. She closes one letter by asking the readers to close their eyes while she gives the benediction.
Just as in her poetry, she was skillful with metaphors. To her cousins, she has “more to say to you than March has to the maples.”
To her cousins, Dickinson also refers to her “weary life in the second story” mourning to hear from them.
Lastly, she often speaks of poets and authors whose books she has read or whose reputations she has knowledge of.
From abroad there is Dickens, George Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, Robert and Elizabeth Browning, Byron. At home there is Hawthorne, Howells, Lowell, Holmes, Stowe, Whittier. When her mentor, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, mentions Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, Dickinson replies that she’s never read it, “but was told that it was disgraceful.”
The editor of the book acknowledges that she has left out “purely personal” portions of Emily’s letters, has not published every letter she had access to and that many people she had asked letters from could not locate or had destroyed letters they’d received from the poet. Dickinson’s letters to herself she has also not kept. Nonetheless, those letters included seem like a good representation, and greatly add to our knowledge of the admittedly reclusive but observant poet who would have been a delightful friend to call one’s own. Her letters are poetry in themselves.
September 3, 2025
9/2/2025: I had to return this library book before reading all the letters but I will. In the meantime I will provides thoughts about Dickinson’s non- poetic writing.
I am only a fourth of the way through and she is only twenty two when I left off. So far there is no indication that she is a poet or has an inner, artistic life. I am looking forward to if/when she declares herself a poet.
There is also little indication that Emily experiences the dark side of life. Her letters so far have been very upbeat and positive and most of all loving. It doesn’t matter who the recipient is, she writes with such passion and interest that they all seem like her lovers.
While she doesn’t dwell on the negative, there are certainly a number of sick people including herself. There is also an occasional mention of death but that isn’t lingered over. She does stop briefly to mention someone’s characteristic or two. As she gets into her twenties her writing style grows more sophisticated and beautiful but as far as content there is little that is insightful or revealing.
When I check the book out again, I’ll update this review. I only read a couple pages at a time so it is slog but given her exquisite poetry, it’s worth the effort.
I am only a fourth of the way through and she is only twenty two when I left off. So far there is no indication that she is a poet or has an inner, artistic life. I am looking forward to if/when she declares herself a poet.
There is also little indication that Emily experiences the dark side of life. Her letters so far have been very upbeat and positive and most of all loving. It doesn’t matter who the recipient is, she writes with such passion and interest that they all seem like her lovers.
While she doesn’t dwell on the negative, there are certainly a number of sick people including herself. There is also an occasional mention of death but that isn’t lingered over. She does stop briefly to mention someone’s characteristic or two. As she gets into her twenties her writing style grows more sophisticated and beautiful but as far as content there is little that is insightful or revealing.
When I check the book out again, I’ll update this review. I only read a couple pages at a time so it is slog but given her exquisite poetry, it’s worth the effort.
November 4, 2024
Soul soothing.
August 19, 2025
Emily Dickinson has a heart brimming with love, and I love that about her. The early letters made me ache for past days, being young and my family being the biggest part of my life. Sometimes my focus waned as the book went on, but when I suddenly found myself on the last letter, I practically burst into tears. I’m going to miss you, Emily!
July 26, 2021
Where are all the letters to Sue?? Emily wrote most of them to her and there are only two in the entire book?
November 10, 2021
will be reading her letters forever, but it's time to put it on goodreads
December 8, 2024
I’ve lately been acquiring the taste of reading the letters of my favourite writers, not only because that’s the sole thing left for me to read but because their intimate character provides a much different sight of that being. Happened with Woolf, with Rilke, with Benjamin, has happened with Dickinson and will soon enough happen with Joyce. What a gift we’ve so neglectfully tossed, that of handwriting, that of letter writing, that of slow and careful communication.
Dickinson’s letters are at least as extraordinary as her poems —surely you would think so, but still it had to be checked. Hers is an extraordinary soul, so full of herself, so wise in her apparent simplicity, so true to what she loved that she never, not once, discarded making use of it as a muppet theatre in which birds and flowers are always by her side. Really, if I should idolatrize I’d be her.
Till the first friend dies, we think ecstasy impersonal, but then discover that he was the cup from which we drank it, itself as yet unknown.
I saw the sunrise on the Alps since I saw you. Travel why to Nature, when she dwells with us? Those who lift their hats shall see her, as devout do God
The career of flowers differs from ours only in inaudibleness. I feel more reverence as I grow for these mute creatures whose suspense or transport may surpass my own.. p.231
Is not an absent friend as mysterious as a bulb in the ground, and is not a bulb the most captivating floral form? p.232
Dickinson’s letters are at least as extraordinary as her poems —surely you would think so, but still it had to be checked. Hers is an extraordinary soul, so full of herself, so wise in her apparent simplicity, so true to what she loved that she never, not once, discarded making use of it as a muppet theatre in which birds and flowers are always by her side. Really, if I should idolatrize I’d be her.
Till the first friend dies, we think ecstasy impersonal, but then discover that he was the cup from which we drank it, itself as yet unknown.
I saw the sunrise on the Alps since I saw you. Travel why to Nature, when she dwells with us? Those who lift their hats shall see her, as devout do God
The career of flowers differs from ours only in inaudibleness. I feel more reverence as I grow for these mute creatures whose suspense or transport may surpass my own.. p.231
Is not an absent friend as mysterious as a bulb in the ground, and is not a bulb the most captivating floral form? p.232
February 18, 2025
Scholars spending their entire life thinking, reading, understanding Emily Dickinson.
And this is a doorstopper of a book of her letters. Those that published this wanted to put it all out there and republish and share more letters that weren't included in previous volumes. They want to paint a bigger picture of her life when letters were how everything could be communicated especially if they were preserved.
I was mildly interested and found that the letters that included poetry were much more lovely to read because I have a curious interested but wasn't going to dive deep into the letters like the academics. It's insight into a time and place which was lovely to spend some time in.
And this is a doorstopper of a book of her letters. Those that published this wanted to put it all out there and republish and share more letters that weren't included in previous volumes. They want to paint a bigger picture of her life when letters were how everything could be communicated especially if they were preserved.
I was mildly interested and found that the letters that included poetry were much more lovely to read because I have a curious interested but wasn't going to dive deep into the letters like the academics. It's insight into a time and place which was lovely to spend some time in.
October 21, 2024
A magnificent new edition. It includes all Dickinson's letters, as well as all surviving letters addressed to her, plus other miscellaneous notes from Dickinson's papers (e.g. recipes, lists, lines by other poets that she copied out by hand). The editorial work behind this volume is awe-inspiring, not least the enormous labour involved in dating the letters (e.g. cross-referencing comments on the weather against surviving weather records from Amherst; cross-referencing comments on birds against the migratory patterns of specific birds, etc). The editors have undertaken a staggering labour of love to produce this authoritative new edition that will serve scholars and enthusiasts for many years to come.
January 17, 2025
It turns out that Emily wrote a lot (like, a lot a lot) of letters. I could not get through them all and I kind of suspect that anyone who says they did might be lying. But you could open this book to any random page and have your heart strings pulled a little bit by the gorgeous language and simple humanity enclosed. Dickinson's writing manages to feel both free flowing stream-of-consciousness and incredibly precise at the same time (think Jane Austen heroine on mushrooms). She really had a gift.
"This is my letter to the world
That never wrote to me" -Emily Dickinson
"This is my letter to the world
That never wrote to me" -Emily Dickinson
January 1, 2025
I could not put this down. One thing is clear, Emily Dickinson was a genius from a young age with a wit and intelligence unique unto her. I absolutely adore how she bends literary conventions, experimenting with slant rhyme, original wordplay and abrupt line breaks. She came alive in these pages. A must-read for any true Dickinson fan.
September 2, 2024
Only 1 chapter in. But the book is well written and tells the story of one of my favorite literary figures. I'm enjoying every word.
Tim
Tim
Read
May 28, 2025rip Emily Dickinson, you would've loved typing in all caps
Want to read
November 7, 2025811.4 Dic
December 14, 2025
We are bringing back the rich inner life of individual personhood and self!!!!
January 5, 2013
The letters begin when Dickinson was 15 --- 15! And she writes with the maturity, wisdom, and eloquence of someone with far more years and experience. I linger over each letter, watching to find where the gifted poet she became shows up in the teen-aged Emily. At 15, I wore too much hair spray and mooned over boys. Emily was writing about gardens, the passing of the seasons, and death (most affectingly, the boys she knew who died in the Civil War). So far, though, her letters shed little light on why she cloistered herself most of her life.
June 10, 2012
A very nice introduction to the life and letters of Emily Dickinson. Fragos notes in her introduction that Dickinson "found life startling and ecstatic and comical and terrible, often all at the same time. She lived in awe." Through the selected correspondences, readers will quickly realize that Dickinson's genius was not reserved for her poetry as lines from her letters (sorted here in ten categories) will suprise and astound and inspire awe. Plus, readers will learn why Dickinson was called "the belle of Amherst."
August 7, 2021
I find Mrs. Todd very sus. It’s like she basically carved the image that people still have of Emily today.. (The eccentric, isolated, recluse). I’m salty AF at the fact that Mabel took it upon herself to edit some if these letters and omit things that she deemed too personal… Was also not surprised by the lack of letters to Sue on this volume knowing that it is now believed Todd purposely erased Sue’s name from letters when it got too queer or just a little two passionate for two best friends.
//EMISUE4LIFE//
//EMISUE4LIFE//
July 10, 2015
I've always loved Emily's poems, and reading her letters was a glorious way to see her from a different side. Unsurprisingly, she has quite a way with language, and a fantastic sense of humor, too. The edition I have is written by a contemporary of hers, so it is curated carefully to show a particular arc of Emily's life with narrative interspersed by this friend, but it whet my appetite to try to find a copy of the complete letters and read them all in full.
September 25, 2012
Generally, Emily's letters are lovely and give you glimpses into brain but never fully let you in. The edition I read was the one compiled by Mabel Loomis Todd and I could've done without her commentary, particularly since it was interspersed among the letters (I would have preferred it either at the beginning or/and the end of each chapter).
October 18, 2015
Emily's poems are delightful, but her letters give more insight into how her mind works. She is honest, timid at times and then fierce by turns. And, oh my, what a little minx she can be! And what a surprise to find that a lot of her poems were in her letters. Anybody who likes Emily's poems should get a copy of her letters. She is one of the few poets who get better with digging deeper.
November 25, 2012
Reading Emily's letters completed the picture of the sensible and sensitive person we know from the poems. They show it's not necessary to live an adventurous life in order to create the most exquisite poetry ever.... For me it was like making a new friend all over again.
unfinished
December 3, 2010left it at home for after semester ends. liked what I read.
January 16, 2014
I enjoyed the pictures she painted in verse.
April 12, 2019
An orchid among everyday, sweet smelling flowers, strangeness and irregularity seem but to enhance her fascination
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews