ED-LarryB

I meant to have but modest needs —
Such as Content — and Heaven —
Within my income — these could lie
And Life and I — keep even —

 

But since the last — included both —
It would suffice my Prayer
But just for One — to stipulate —
And Grace would grant the Pair —

 

And so — upon this wise — I prayed —
Great Spirit — Give to me
A Heaven not so large as Yours,
But large enough — for me —

 

A Smile suffused Jehovah’s face —
The Cherubim — withdrew —
Grave Saints stole out to look at me —
And showed their dimples — too —

 

I left the Place, with all my might —
I threw my Prayer away —
The Quiet Ages picked it up —
And Judgment — twinkled — too —
That one so honest — be extant —
It take the Tale for true —
That “Whatsoever Ye shall ask —
Itself be given You” —

 

But I, grown shrewder — scan the Skies
With a suspicious Air —
As Children — swindled for the first
All Swindlers — be — infer —

 

An interpretation

Stanza 1

The poet imagines a perfect plan for the remainder of her life: contentment “within her income” and “Heaven”, which for her would be continued correspondence with Charles Wadsworth living in Philadelphia, close enough for him to occasionally visit, as he did in 1860 and possibly 1861.

Stanza 2

On second thought, she deletes “Content” from her “Prayer”, because if she had “Heaven” as described, she would be content. And she could have that Heaven if just one person, Wadsworth, would so “stipulate”, “And Grace would grant the Pair –”, both contentment and Heaven.

Stanza 3

She asks little in her “Prayer”, and she asks in an endearing way:

“Great Spirit -Give to me
A Heaven not so large as Yours,
But large enough -for me –”

Stanza 4 [brackets mine]

“A [paternalistic] Smile suffused Jehovah’s face –
The Cherubim [young angels attending God]-withdrew –
Grave Saints [Severe old men] stole out to look at me –
And showed their dimples – too –” [also smiled in amusement]

Stanza 5 [brackets mine]

Disgusted by Heaven’s pseudo-smile paternalism, ED stormed out of “the Place – with all my might –” and “threw my Prayer away -”. For ages Christian readers “picked it up” and read her prayer approvingly. Even St Peter at the pearly gates “twinkled” with approval because there had been one living person so honest [gullible] that she took “the Tale for true -”

Stanza 6

“The Tale”, told twice, in Matthew 21: 21-22 & John 14: 12-14, was:

“Whatsoever Ye shall ask –
Itself be given You” –

As a child ED believed that promise lock, stock, and barrel, but when her prayers went unanswered, she grew skeptical of Resurrection, Heaven, and the Judeo-Christian God, and, like a swindled child, now infers all such promisers are swindlers, including God and Wadsworth.

Matthew 21:21-22:

21: Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
22: And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

John 14: 12-14:

12. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Biographic History of Emily Dickinson and Reverend Charles Wadsworth

While visiting a friend in Philadelphia in March1855, ED, age 24, heard Rev. Wadsworth deliver a sermon at his church, Arch Street Presbyterian. Apparently, Wadsworth’s sermon, and his deep voice, lit an emotional and intellectual fire in ED that resulted in a two-way correspondence and an 1860 visit by Wadsworth to her home in Amherst. That sermon, their correspondence, and his visit may help explain ED’s manic burst of productivity during the next five years, 1861-1865: a total of 937 poems, more than half her oeuvre of 1789 poems in 37 years of composition, 1850-1886.

Before ED’s death in 1886, she asked her sister, Vinnie, to burn all her correspondence. Vinnie complied except for one undated letter from Wadsworth to ED and three drafts of letters from ED to “Master”. His letter to her probably predates his first visit to Amherst because he misspells her name in its salutation and his stationary bears a monogram he stopped using in 1862:

“My Dear Miss Dickenson [sic] —

I am distressed beyond measure at your note, received this moment, — I can only imagine the affliction which has befallen, or is now befalling you.

Believe me, be what it may, you have all my sympathy, and my constant, earnest prayers.

I am very, very anxious to learn more definitely of your trial — and though I have no right to intrude upon your sorrow yet I beg you to write me, though it be but a word.

In great haste
Sincerely and most
Affectionately Yours —”

Wadsworth underlined the word, “Yours”, but did not sign the letter.

The tone of his letter is sincere ministerial concern for her, but given ED ‘s attraction to him, how did she interpret that underlined “Yours”? Why Wadsworth suddenly resigned his Philadelphia position in early 1862 and moved to San Francisco and how that personally affected ED’s life begs explanation.

Wadsworth’s charismatic sermons had filled Arch Street Presbyterian pews since his arrival in 1850, but his belief that the Bible condoned slavery did not sit well with his mostly anti-slavery congregation. When the Civil War began in April 1861, Wadsworth stood firmly for preserving the United States as one nation and thus sided with the Union in his sermons, but that didn’t satisfy his anti-slavery congregation. Friction followed, and he resigned his position at Arch Street Presbyterian in early 1862.

Simultaneously, in San Francisco, the struggling congregation of the 10-year-old Calvary Presbyterian Church grew increasingly dissatisfied with their Reverend William Scott, who supported both slavery and secession of slave states in his sermons. Threats followed. Scott resigned in July 1871 and sailed to Birmingham, England where he pastored John Street Presbyterian Church for two years.

Scott had known Wadsworth in seminary, and “After resigning in July 1861, Scott may have asked his friend to consider a call from Calvary Church as his successor; their friendship probably contributed to Wadsworth’s being chosen to replace Scott at a meeting of the congregation on 9 December 1861.” (Lease 1990). Wadsworth accepted, resigned from Arch Street Presbyterian, and moved to San Francisco in May 1862.

Apparently, in September 1861 ED learned of Wadsworth’s impending decision to move and felt terror of abandonment, which may explain her cryptic comment to Higginson in a letter dated April 28, 1862: “I had a terror – since September – I could tell to none – and so I sing, as the Boy does by the Burying Ground, because I am afraid”. At that time, ED apparently knew nothing about the real reason why Wadsworth decided to leave the east coast. (Johnson letter J-L261, Miller and Mitchell letter M&M-L338)

In her last “Calvary” poem (F1485, 1879), ED affirmed her enduring concern and now platonic love for Wadsworth in a quatrain, ‘Spurn the temerity’:

Spurn the temerity –
Rashness of Calvary –
Gay were Gethsemane
Knew we of thee –

ED Lexicon defines “Gethsemane” metaphorically as “Scene of agony; circumstance of unimaginable pain; situation of extreme anguish”, which pretty well describes ED’s mental state during 1861-1863 and perhaps longer.

If “Calvary” codes for Wadsworth and “Gethsemane” for ED, F1479 translates line by line:

“Ignore my brash boldness,
My rashness when you accepted pastorship of Calvary Presbyterian in San Francisco.
I would be gay now
If I knew how you are doing.”

It would not surprise me if she mailed this poem, F1485, to Wadsworth in 1879, though we have no hard evidence that happened. At any rate, the next year, during summer 1880, he showed up unannounced at her front door.

Wadsworth died two years later, on April 1, 1882. In August 1882 ED wrote his best friend, James Clark, asking for memories of him (L994). By pure chance, ED’s father had introduced her to James in 1859. He and his brother, Charles, lived during summers at the Clark family home in Northampton, MA, 12 miles southwest of Amherst.

Her letter speaks for itself:

“August 1882

Dear friend,

Please excuse the trespass of gratitude. My Sister [Vinnie] thinks you will accept a few words in recognition of your great kindness.

In a [sic] intimacy of many years with the beloved Clergyman, I have never before spoken with one who knew him, and his Life was so shy and his tastes so unknown, that grief for him seems almost unshared.

He was my Shepherd from “Little Girl”hood and I cannot conjecture a world without him, so noble was he always – so fathomless – so gentle. [Actually, ED was 24 when she attended his sermon, March 1855]

I saw him two years since [summer 1880] for the last time, though how unsuspected!

He rang one summer evening to my glad surprise – “Why did you not tell me you were coming, so I could have it to hope for,” I said – “Because I did not know it myself. I stepped from my Pulpit to the Train,” was his quiet reply. . . . . . He [had] spoken on a previous visit [1860] of calling upon you [James Clark], or perhaps remaining a brief time at your Home in Northampton. . . . . . . .

E Dickinson.”

James Clark died in 1883. Two years later in mid-April 1886, four weeks before her own death, ED wrote Clark’s brother, Charles, describing Wadsworth’s 1880 visit with her in Amherst (Johnson letter L1040, Miller and Mitchell letter, L1298):

“Thank you [for a previous letter], Dear friend, I am better. The velocity of the ill, however, is like that of the snail. . . . . .

I could hardly have thought it possible that the scholarly Stranger [James Clark] to whom my Father introduced me [in 1859] could have mentioned my Friend [Charles Wadsworth] . . . . .

With the exception of my Sister [Vinnie] who never saw Mr Wadsworth, your Name alone [now] remains.

Going Home” [dying], was he not an Aborigine of the sky? The last time he came in Life [summer 1880], I was with my Lilies and Heliotropes, said my sister to me, “[T]he Gentleman with the deep voice wants to see you, Emily,” hearing him ask of the servant. “Where did you come from,” I said, for he spoke like an Apparition.

“I stepped from my Pulpit to the Train” was [his] simple reply, and when I asked “how long,” “Twenty Years” [1860-1880] said he with inscrutable roguery – but [his] loved Voice has ceased, and to someone who [heard] him “Going Home,” it was sweet to speak. . . . . . Excuse me for the [my] Voice, this moment immortal. . . . .”

E Dickinson.”

1. Johnson, T.H. 1958. The Letters of Emily Dickinson
2. Lease, Benjamin, 1990, Emily Dickinson’s Readings of Men and Books
3. Miller, Cristanne Miller and Domhnall Mitchell, 2024, The Letters of Emily Dickinson

 

During her lifetime ED composed 12 “Calvary” poems:

“Calvary” Poems

Year      Fr#         “Calvary” lines
1861     194        Empress of Calvary
1862     283        The Palm -without the Calvary –
1862     325        Justified-through Calvaries of Love-
1862     347        The Queen of Calvary-
1862     398        Key of Calvary-
1862     431        In Calvary-
1863     550        In passing Calvary-
1863     652        But Calvary
1863     670        One Calvary-exhibited to Stranger
1863     686        For passing Calvary-
1863     749        Cashmere-or Calvary-the same
1879    1485       Rashness of Calvary-

Summary of Calvary poem occurrences:

Years               Time (yrs)      Poems        F#s
1850-1860             11               0              F1-F193
1861-1863              3              11             F194-F7491
1864-1978            15               0              F750-F1485
1879                        1               1              F779
1880-1886              7               0              F1486-F1789

The euphoria of ED’s midsummer 1860 rendezvous lasted until September 1861, when Wadsworth let her know he planned to move to San Francisco. He gave her no reason and did not say goodbye when he sailed from New York Harbor on May 1, 1862. After hearing his plans, ED’s brain began bipolar cycles whose valleys bordered on suicide. As she told Higginson in her second letter to him (JL338, April 28, 1862):

“. . . . . I had a terror – since September – I could tell to none – and so I sing, as the Boy does by the Burying Ground, because I am afraid. . . . . .”

“Sing” she did. Over the next four years, 1862-1865, ED’s productivity was prodigious. She wrote 849 poems, which is about one poem every two days. During a single year, 1863, she wrote 295 poems, an average of one poem every 30 hours.

What malevolent muse sent ED inspirations at that mind-murdering rate for 365 straight days? What poet wouldn’t gladly die to receive inspirations at that rate?

To put ED’s experience during that 1860 “Midsummer’s” rendezvous into modern perspective, Baylor University research (Baylor 2026) shows that experienced ministers know well their sexual power over troubled female congregants and should, but frequently don’t, guard against getting too familiar with them during counseling sessions.

 

PS3. My candidates for Suicide Poems (and Franklin’s estimate of copy date) include:

1. Fr252, ‘I think just how my shape will rise –’, “about 1861”,
   
2. Fr279, ‘Of all the Souls that stand create –’, “about second half of 1861”,
3. Fr308, ‘A shady friend – for Torrid days –’, “about early 1862”.
4. Fr320, ‘There’s a certain slant of light’, “about early 1862″,
5. Fr340, ‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain’, “about summer 1862”,
6. Fr386, ‘Taking up the fair Ideal’, “about autumn 1862”, and
7. Fr784, ‘I sometimes drop it, for a Quick –’, “about late 1863”
   .
   Other candidate Suicide Poems welcome. I will add them to this list.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Reality of Pastoral Power

Misuse of Position: Sexual contact in ministry is recognized as an abuse of power, not an “affair,” because the power differential renders true, meaningful consent from a vulnerable congregant impossible.

High Risk and Frequency: Studies suggest that between 20% and 39% of surveyed clergy have admitted to sexual contact with parishioners.

Vulnerability Exploitation: Clergy abuse often targets people in crisis, such as those experiencing marital problems, grief, or trauma, as they are most in need of support.

Awareness vs. Action: While many ministers understand the theological prohibitions against adultery, they often fail to implement the practical, daily boundaries needed to prevent situations where sexual sin is easily initiated.

The “Black Pit” of Entitlement: Some ministers fall into the trap of using their role to gain sexual access, often by appearing as a “tired minister” needing care, or by grooming individuals through, for example, long-term, cross-gender counseling sessions.

Prevention Methods: Those who successfully guard against this abuse often use strategies like:

• Strict Counseling Boundaries: Avoiding long-term, private, one-on-one counseling with members of the opposite sex.
• Peer Accountability: Regular supervision and consultation with colleagues.
• Self-Awareness: Acknowledging personal needs and addressing them outside the congregation.
• Systemic Failure: When boundary violations occur, churches sometimes prioritize protecting their reputation over the safety of vulnerable members, allowing predators to continue their behavior.”

1. ED’s alternate words, Lines 4, 7, 17, 19, and 20, are in parentheses.
2. For clarity, in Line 4 my alternate word “your” [in brackets] would replace ED’s original word “the”.
3. In Line 11 of her manuscript, ED crossed out “ine” and wrote “y” in “Thine”.
4. In Lines 4, 7, 17, 19, I prefer ED’s original words.
5. In Line 20, I prefer ED’s alternate word, “is”:

 

 

Wert Thou but ill—that I might show thee
How long a Day I could endure
Though thine attention stop not on me
Nor the [your] least signal, Me (Mine) assure—

Wert Thou but Stranger in ungracious country—
And Mine—the Door
Thou paused at, for a passing (doubtful) bounty—
No More—

Accused—wert Thou—and Myself—Tribunal—
Convicted—Sentenced—Ermine—not to Me
Half the Condition (distinction), thy (made from “thine”) Reverse—to follow—
Just to partake [share]—the infamy—

The Tenant of the Narrow Cottage, wert Thou—
Permit to be
The Housewife in thy low attendance
Contenteth Me—

No Service hast Thou, I would not achieve (attempt ) it—
To die—or live—
The first—Sweet, proved I (That was), ere I saw thee—
For Life—be (is) Love—

My interpretation of “Wert Thou but ill” (Fr821):

 

1. If you, Reverend Wadsworth, were ill, I would show you how long a day I could endure caring for you, even though you paid no attention to me nor gave me the least signal to assure me that you cared.
2. If you were a stranger in an ungracious country and mine the only door you paused at for a passing meal, nothing more, I would feed you.
3. If you were accused and I were the judge, I would not convict or sentence you. If you were convicted by a judge, I would serve half your sentence if doing so would reduce your sentence by half, simply to share your infamy.
4. If you were the tenant of a tiny cottage and I were permitted to be your attentive housewife, I would be contented.
5. There is nothing you could ask of me that I would not give you, including my death or my life. I proved I would die for you, Sweet, in letters before we met. Life for me is Love of You.

PS1: ED Lexicon provides a standard definition of “Ermine”, which is worse than useless for readers of ‘Wert Thou but ill—that I might show thee’ (Fr821). Fortunately, Miller (2016) rescued us: “Because a judge’s robe was traditionally lined with ermine, the word ‘ermine’ was used frequently to mean ‘judge’.”(Footnote 332)

 

PS2. I think when ED composed this poem she was thinking about her “Master”, Reverend Charles Wadsworth, to whom she had written in “early 1861” (Franklin 1998):

· · · · · · · · ·
“Master — open your life wide, and take me in forever, I will never be tired — I will never be noisy when you want to be still. I will be [glad] [as the] your best little girl nobody else will see me —, but you — but that is enough — I shall not want any more — and all that Heaven only will disappoint me — will be because it’s not so dear” (draft letter MLJ3F2).
· · · · · · · · · ·

 

And, in “summer 1861” (ibid.), she had written:

 

· · · · · · · ·
“I am older – tonight, Master – but the love is the same – so are the moon and the crescent. If it had been God’s will that I might breathe where you breathed – and find the place – myself – at night — if I (can) never forget that I am not with you – and that sorrow and frost are nearer than I – if I wish with a might I cannot repress – that mine were the Queen’s place – the love of the Plantagenet is my only apology – To come nearer than presbyteries – and nearer than the new Coat – that the Tailor made – the prank of the Heart at play on: the Heart – in holy Holiday-is forbidden me –” (draft letter MLJ2F3)
· · · · · · · · ·

 

 

PS3: There are two disparate poem structures, the one above(↑), [1] Johnson (1955, J961), Franklin (1998, Fr821) and TPB’s (2025), and [2] Miller’s (2016, below↓):

“Wert Thou but ill – that I might show thee
How long a Day I could endure
Though thine attention stop not on me
Nor the least signal, Me assure –

 

Wert Thou but stranger in ungracious country –
And Mine – the Door
. . . . . . . . . . Thou paused at, for a passing bounty –
No More –

 

Accused – wert Thou – and Myself – Tribunal –
Convicted – sentenced – Ermine – not to Me
. . . . . . . . . . Half the Condition, thy Reverse – to follow –
Just to partake – the infamy –

 

The Tenant of the narrow Cottage, wert Thou
Permit to be
The Housewife in thy low attendance
Contenteth Me –

 

. . . . . . . . . . No Service hast Thou, I would not achieve it –
To die – or live –
. . . . . . . . . .The first – Sweet, proved I, ere I saw thee –
For Life – be Love –

 

I have no idea why Miller (2016) did this to ED’s poem. There is nothing in ED’s MS to warrant Miller’s mutilation. (LSB 2026-03-04).

 

Franklin, RW (ed.), 1986.The Master Letters of Emily Dickinson. Amherst College Press, 48 pp.

Franklin, RW (ed.), 1998, The Poems of Emily Dickinson, 3 vols. Harvard University Press, 1654 pp.

Johnson, T. H., (ed.), 1955, The Poems of Emily Dickinson, 3 vols., 1266 pp., Harvard Univ. Press

LSB 2026-03-04 [That’s me, Lawrence S. Barden, and today’s date]

Miller, Christine, 2016. Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them . Harvard University Press. 864 pp., Kindle Edition.

 

820.1864.The Only News I know

The Only News I know
Is Bulletins all Day
From Immortality.

The Only Shows I see—
Tomorrow and Today—
Perchance Eternity—

The Only One I meet
Is God—The Only Street—
Existence—This traversed

If Other News there be—
Or Admirable Show—
I’ll tell it You—

My interpretation of F820, ‘The Only News I know’:

1. The only gossip I get is Inspirations all day from Heaven.
2. The only scenes I see, day after day, are Eternity.
3. The only one I meet is God, the only street I walk is Life — I’ve done those now.
4. If there is any other news or an admirable show, I’ll let you know.

 

Stanzas 1-2 each begin with understatement, but end with a Bang. Stanza 3 does a double Bang. Stanza 4 pretends that inspirations from Heaven, scenes of Eternity, meeting with God, and strolling through Existence are just ordinary events that happen every day. ED has “traversed” those now, but if anything worth mentioning happens in Amherst, “I’ll let you know”.

For me, ‘The Only News I know’ is a tongue-in-cheek, understated joke about Inspiration, Eternity, God, and Existence in a poet’s daily life.

819.1864.The Luxury to apprehend

The Luxury to apprehend
The Luxury ‘twould be
To look at Thee a single time
An Epicure of Me

In whatsoever Presence makes
Till for a further Food
I scarcely recollect to starve
So first am I supplied —

The Luxury to meditate
The Luxury it was
To banquet on thy Countenance
A Sumptuousness bestows

On plainer Days, whose Table far
As Certainty can see
Is laden with a single Crumb
The Consciousness of Thee.

 

My interpretation of ‘The Luxury to apprehend’:

1. The luxury to look at you again would make an epicure of me.
   .
2. In whatever presence you might appear, after looking at your face I would forget I’m starved for food and hardly remember I’m starving because my first look at your face during summer of 1860 has fed my soul so well.
   .
3. The luxury to remember, the luxury it was to feast upon your face that summer day, enriches my life.
   .
4. Now, on plainer days, as far as I can see with certainty, my table is laden with a single crumb, my memory of you.
   .
   .
   One payoff for ED’s poetic obscurity is that her poems are multipurpose, they seem to be written about whomever we want them to be. Because ED first shared this poem with Sue, we assume she was thinking of Sue when she wrote it, but that may be incorrect. I think ED had someone else in mind when she composed this poem. I also think Master Letter 3 reveals the identity of that someone:
   .
   “I want to see you more-Sir-than all I wish for in this World and the wish — altered a little — will be my only one — for the skies.“Could you come to New England — [this summer — could] would you come to Amherst — Would you like to come — Master? . . . .
   .
   “Would Daisy disappoint you — no — she would’nt — Sir — it were comfort forever-just to look in your face, while you looked in mine —  then I could play in the woods till Dark— till you take me where Sundown cannot find us.”
   .
   .
   Many eminent historians and biographers have concluded the identity of ED’s “Master” was Reverend Charles Wadsworth (Whicher 1939, Johnson 1955, Sewall 1974, Habegger 1998). I agree with those scholars. It’s an understatement to say, but ED got a lot of poetic mileage out of that one day in 1860 when Wadsworth came to visit her in Amherst.
   .

ED wrote seven poems that include the capitalized word “Master”. The fourth “Master” poem, Fr395, has the word “face” in its title: ‘The face I carry with me – last –‘. I think Fr395 identifies beyond reasonable doubt that “The face I carried with me — last —” belonged to Charles Wadsworth:

“The face I carry with me — last —
When I go out of Time —
To take my Rank — by— in the West—
That face — will just be thine —

I’ll hand it to the Angel —
That — Sir — was my Degree —
In Kingdoms — you have heard the Raised —
Refer to — possibly.

He’ll take it — scan it — step aside —
Return — with such a crown
As Gabriel — never capered at —
And beg me put it on —

And then — he’ll turn me round and round —
To an admiring sky —
As One that bore her Master’s name —
Sufficient Royalty!”

818.1864.Given in Marriage unto Thee

Franklin (1998) tells us, “Manuscripts, two (one in part), about 1864 and 1865. The first stanza was sent to Susan Dickinson about 1864, written in pencil, signed ‘Emily’.”

One alternate word, in Line 7. I prefer ED’s original “Ring”:

Given in Marriage unto Thee
Oh thou Celestial Host —
Bride of the Father and the Son
Bride of the Holy Ghost —

Other Betrothal shall dissolve —
Wedlock of Will, decay —
Only the Keeper of this Ring (Seal)
Conquer Mortality —

EDLex defines “Celestial” (Line 2) as “Godly”.

My interpretation of F818, ‘Given in Marriage unto Thee’:

1. Given in marriage to you, Charles Wadsworth, “Celestial Host”, I became “Bride of the Father and the Son, Bride of the Holy Ghost”.

2. Any “Other Betrothal shall dissolve”, any “Other Wedlock of Will, decay” and “Only the Keeper of this Ring” shall “Conquer Mortality”.

I think ED was the “Keeper of this Ring”. She believed her poems would “Conquer Mortality”, and she was right.

ED’s four most intense years of spiritual feelings for Charles Wadsworth were 1861-1864, during which time she composed 708 poems, an average of one poem every two days. During her other 33 years of writing poetry, 1850-1860 and 1865-1886, she wrote 1171 poems, an average of one poem every 35 days. Doing the math, ED’s rate of poem production during 1861-1863 was eighteen times faster than during her other years of writing poetry.

Any other poet would die for a muse like Wadsworth. ED has been there, done that, and moved on to her life’s pledged purpose: composing poetry just for the sake of poetry.

…………………………………………………………..

ED’s oeuvre was 1879 poems. Of these, two included the word “Marriage”, this poem, ‘Given in Marriage unto Thee’ and Fr325, ‘There came a Day—at Summer’s full’. Stanzas 6-7 of Fr325 describe an earthly lover, probably Reverend Charles Wadsworth. He was 16 years older than ED, happily married, and had two children, which is why ED had to wait until they both had died and could meet in Heaven:

“And so when all the time had failed—
Without external sound—
Each—bound the other’s Crucifix—
We gave no other Bond—

Sufficient troth—that we shall rise—
Deposed—at length—the Grave—
To that new Marriage—
Justified—through Calvaries of Love!”

ED used the word “Betrothal” or “Betrothed” in four poems, this one (F818) and three others:

1. Fr 194, ‘Title divine, is mine’, which is also a “Calvary” poem, ED’s codeword for Wadsworth. ED probably became “The Wife without the Sign” in 1860 when Wadsworth visited her at Homestead:“Title divine, is mine.
   The Wife without the Sign –
   Acute Degree conferred on me –
   Empress of Calvary –
   Royal, all but the Crown –
   Betrothed, without the Swoon
   God gives us Women”
2. Fr1412, ‘March is the Month of Expectation’, where “betrothal” concerns the month of March,
3. Fr1657, ‘Betrothed to Righteousness might be’, a delightful quatrain joking about “Righteousness”:“Betrothed to Righteousness might be
   An Ecstasy discreet
   But Nature relishes the Pinks
   Which she was taught to eat”

   ED used the word “Wedlock” in two poems, this one (F818) and Fr698, ‘I live with Him – I see His face’:

   “I live with Him — I see His face —
   I go no more away
   For Visitor — or Sundown —
   Death’s single privacy

   The Only One — forestalling Mine —
   And that — by Right that He
   Presents a Claim invisible —
   No wedlock — granted Me —

   I live with Him — I hear His Voice —
   I stand alive — Today —
   To witness to the Certainty
   Of Immortality —

   Taught Me — by Time — the lower Way —
   Conviction — Every day —
   That Life like This — is stopless —
   Be Judgment — what it may —”

   Line 1 of F698,  “I live with Him — I see His face “, echoes Master Letter 3’s focus on her Master’s face, and the capitalized “Him” of Line 9, I live with Him — I hear His Voice” could only refer to Wadsworth, not God, whom she certainly does not “live with”.

These shared words and their contexts are enough circumstantial evidence to compel me to conclude that F818 is about Charles Wadsworth, not Sue Dickinson.
………………………………………………………………………

In a happy way, Fr818 feels like an epitaph for ED’s four-year, spiritual love affair with Charles Wadsworth.