cf. photograph (musician) by Andrew Robles via Unsplash
I showed her heights she never saw—
“Wouldst climb?” I said,
She said “Not so”—
“With me?” I said, “With me?”
—Emily Dickinson
“Shadows of the Night” (Live) by Pat Benatar
LIFE, 1967
Summer for thee grant I may be
When summer days are flown!
Thy music still when whippoorwill
And oriole are done!
—Emily Dickinson
LIFE, 1955
Alter? When the hills do.
Falter? When the sun
Question if his glory
Be the perfect one.
Surfeit? When the daffodil
Doth of the dew:
Even as herself, O friend!
I will of you!
–Emily Dickinson
F. J. Bandholtz, “Rock Island…” (detail) (ca. 1907)
Childe Hassam, “The Colonial Table” (1915)
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!
–Emily Dickinson
cf. Patricia D. Duncan, “Former Home of Aviatrix Amelia Earhart…” (1974)
You cannot put a fire out;
A thing that can ignite
Can go, itself, without a fan
Upon the slowest night…
–Emily Dickinson
Charles O’Rear, Sign on a bluff signals the site of a future condominium… (1975)
A quality of loss
Affecting our content,
As trade had suddenly encroached
Upon a sacrament.
–Emily Dickinson
William Merritt Chase, At the Window (ca. 1889)
(Cambridge, September 1864)
Susan Gilbert Dickinsonat Centre of the Sea –
I am glad Mrs. Gertrude lived –
I believed she would –
Those that are worthy of Life are of Miracle,
for Life is Miracle,
and Death, as harmless as a Bee –
except to those who runIt would be best to see you –
it would be good to see the Grass,
and hear the Wind blow the wide way in the Orchard –
Are the Apples ripe –
Have the Wild Geese crossed –
Did you save the seed to the Pond Lily?Love for Mat, and John, and the Foreigner –
And kiss little Ned in the seam in the neck, entirely for Me –
The Doctor is very kind –
I find no Enemy –
Till the Four o’Clocks strike Five,
Loo will last, she says.
Do not cease, Sister.
Should I turn in my long night,
I should murmur “Sue”Emily.
Diorama At The Dickinson Homestead (1985)
‘Tis little I could care for pearls
Who own the ample sea;
Or brooches, when the Emperor
With rubies pelteth me;Or gold, who am the Prince of Mines;
Or diamonds, when I see
A diadem to fit a dome
Continual crowning me.
— Emily Dickinson
“Austin’s Family went to Geneva, and Austin lived with us four weeks. It seemed peculiar-pathetic-and Antediluvian. We missed him while he was with us and missed him when he was gone. All is so very curious…”
–Emily Dickinson, letter to Mrs. J.G. Holland, late January 1875
Summer Interlude (1951)
As imperceptibly as grief
The summer lapsed away…
–Emily Dickinson
John Sapiro 