Month: December 2025

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

ED’s alternate words (L2, L12) and alternate phrase are in parentheses (L8).

Remorse — is Memory — awake —
Her Parties all (Companies) astir —
A Presence of Departed Acts —
At window — and at Door —

Its Past — set down before the Soul
And lighted with a Match —
Perusal — to facilitate —
And help Belief to stretch — (Of it’s [sic] Condensed Despatch [sic])

Remorse is cureless — the Disease
Not even God — can heal —
For ’tis His institution — and
The Adequate (Complement) of Hell —

Franklin (1998) estimates ED copied this poem into Fascicle 37 “about late 1863”.

I prefer her original word choice in Line 2, her alternate phrase in Line 8, and her alternate word in Line 12:

Remorse — is Memory — awake —
Her Parties all astir —
A Presence of Departed Acts —
At window — and at Door —

Its Past — set down before the Soul
And lighted with a Match —
Perusal — to facilitate —
(Of its Condensed Dispatch)

Remorse is cureless — the Disease
Not even God — can heal —
For ’tis His institution — and
The (Complement) of Hell —

Definitions from ‘ED Lexicon’ (EDL):

• Parties (L2) Opposing sides in a dispute
• Lighted (L6) Illuminated (my inference, not in EDL)
• Condensed (L8) Collected; settled; gathered
• Despatch (L8) Riddance, clearance, disposal (noun)
• Complement (L12) Equal; equivalent

F781, ‘Remorse — is Memory — awake —’, is universal. We’ve all said or done things we wish we hadn’t. Taken to extreme, we obsess in a woulda-coulda-shoulda spiral that goes nowhere. But poems don’t come from nowhere, they germinate from seed. I think the seed for this poem was ED’s perceived abandonment by Reverend Charles Wadsworth when he sailed to San Francisco on May 1, 1862.
And/or, ED’s remorse may stem from the unwise break-up letter she sent Susan Gilbert (Dickinson) in 1854. Sue Gilbert and Austin Dickinson announced their engagement in March 1853 After her engagement, Sue naturally shifted her attention from ED to Austin, leading ED to pen an unwise breakup letter on August 1, 1854 (JL173):

“Sue – you can go or stay – There is but one alternative – We differ often lately, and this must be the last.
…………………………

We have walked very pleasantly – Perhaps this is the point at which our paths diverge – then [I] pass on singing Sue, and up the distant hill I journey on.”

ED’s remorse on losing Sue’s sister-like intimacy and Wadsworth’s father-like friendship lasted her lifetime.

We don’t know what ED’s assumptions were about Wadsworth’s reason for leaving the east coast, but she reacted with poems ranging from blaming, to pleading, to forgiving, and, 17 years later, to inquiring how he was faring (Asterisks indicate poems that include ED’s codename for Wadsworth, “Calvary”):

• Blaming (‘Take your Heaven further on —’, F672, second half of 1862,),
• Pleading (‘A Tongue – to tell Him I am true!’, F673, second half 1863),
• Forgiving (‘That I always did love’, F652, second half 1863)*; (‘Tis true – They shut me in the Cold’, F658, second half 1863),
• Inquiring (‘Spurn the temerity’, F1485, 1879)*.

Asterisks (*) indicate poems that include ED’s codename for Wadsworth, “Calvary”.

Wadsworth’s real reason for leaving Philadelphia stemmed from friction with his congregation over whether the Bible condoned slavery. He believed it did and most of them did not. Civil War fever ran hot, and Wadsworth resigned from his pulpit of 12 years, despite his enormous success at filling pews.

ED was probably unaware of his real motivation and assumed he had simply abandoned her. She was wrong, hence the remorse expressed in this poem, and many others. For a fuller explanation of the biographical history between ED and Wadsworth, see comments on ‘ED-LarryB’ blog:

Biographic History of ED and Reverend Charles Wadsworth

652.1863.That I did always love

The Birds reported from the South —
A News express to Me —
A spicy Charge, My little Posts —
But I am deaf — Today —

The Flowers — appealed — a timid Throng —
I reinforced the Door —
Go blossom for the Bees — I said —
And trouble Me — no More —

The Summer Grace, for Notice strove —
Remote — Her best Array —
The Heart — to stimulate the Eye
Refused too utterly —

At length, a Mourner, like Myself,
She drew away austere —
Her frosts to ponder — then it was
I recollected Her —

She suffered Me, for I had mourned —
I offered Her no word —
My Witness — was the Crape I bore —
Her — Witness — was Her Dead —

Thenceforward — We — together dwelt —
I never questioned Her —
Our Contract
A Wiser Sympathy

ED delights in pronoun play and this poem is no exception. The “Her” in Line 10 must refer to “Summer”, but the “She” in Line 14 must refer to “Heart” in Line 11, as do the “Her”[s] in Lines 15, 16, 17, 18, 20 (twice), and 22. The “We” in Line 21 probably refers to both ED and her “Heart” at the same time, which is a clever personification of ED’s Heart.

Stanza 1

Line 1, “The Birds reported from the South” tells us this poem dates about late spring-early summer, and Franklin dates this poem “about late 1863”. On May 1, 1862, Reverend Charles Wadsworth, one of the two loves ED’s life, sailed with his family from New York, bound for San Francisco, as far as she knew, never to return. In Line 3, I prefer ED’s alternate word, “Friends”, over “Posts” because it’s friendlier, and softens Line 4, “But I am deaf – Today”.

Stanza 4

In Line 16, I much prefer ED’s alternate phrase, “rose to comfort”, over the four-syllable word, “recollected” because it suggests true sister-like empathy between ED and her “Heart” and because it prepares readers for their silent conversation in Stanzas 5 and 6. Those last two stanzas of the poem remind me of the intimacy ED and Sue shared before Sue and Austin announced their engagement in March 1853 (‘One Sister have I in our house’, Fr5, 1858).

After her engagement, Sue naturally shifted her attention from ED to Austin, leading ED to pen an unwise breakup letter on August 1, 1854 (JL173):

“Sue – you can go or stay – There is but one alternative – We differ often lately, and this must be the last.
…………………………

We have walked very pleasantly – Perhaps this is the point at which our paths diverge – then [I] pass on singing Sue, and up the distant hill I journey on.”

Stanza 5

Line 17, “She suffered Me, for I had mourned”, probably refers to ED’s broken heart. EDLex defines “suffer” as “to bear a burden’, which implies ED personifies her “Heart”, which helped ED bear her burden of sadness. In Line 19, “My Witness — was the Crape (Black) I bore”, I prefer ED’s alternate word “Black” over “Crape” for two reasons. First, I like the alliteration: “Black I bore”. Even though EV always wore white clothing, “Black I bore” may refer to the 19^th century custom of wearing a black ribbon or pendant to indicate mourning. Second, the English word is not “crape”, but “crepe”, which rhymes with “grape” and derives from the French circumflexed “crêpe”, a type of crinkly cloth used for funeral dress (OED).

The clue to ED’s burden was the “Black” she wore in mourning. ED’s Heart had been broken by a “Dead” love relationship, probably following the departure of Charles Wadsworth for San Francisco in May, 1862.

Stanza 6

In Lines 23-24, I prefer ED’s alternate “Compact” because “Contract” sounds like legalese and “Silent” instead of “Wiser” for its alliteration: “Silent Sympathy”.

In previous summers, ED’s “Heart” had “stimulated” her eye to enjoy the beauty of spring and summer, but not this year. Instead, the pain of separation anxiety, a life-long curse ED “suffered”, blocked her usual springtime rejuvenation of inspiration (McDermott, J.T. 2001.Emily Dickinson Revisited – A Study of Periodicity in Her Work, Am J Psychiatry, Vol. 158:686–690.

For me, ED’s many alternative words, phrases, and lines in the manuscript of this poem (Fr780) are more complicated than those of any previous poem (Fr1-Fr779). It makes me wonder if ED’s fun-loving spirit delights in our fumbling because we’re mystified and keep coming back for more.

Fr780 with all changes and ED’s alternate words and phrases in parentheses:

The Birds reported from the South —
A News express to Me —
A spicy Charge, My little (Friends) —
But I am deaf — Today —

The Flowers — appealed — a timid Throng —
I reinforced the Door —
Go blossom for the Bees — I said —
And trouble Me — no More —

The Summer Grace, for Notice strove —
Remote — Her best Array —
The Heart — to stimulate the Eye
Refused too utterly —

At length, a Mourner, like Myself,
She drew away austere —
Her frosts to ponder — then it was
I (rose to comfort) Her —

She suffered Me, for I had mourned —
I offered Her no word —
My Witness — was the (Black) I bore —
Her — Witness — was Her Dead —

Thenceforward — We — together dwelt —
I never questioned Her
Our (Compact)
A (Silent) Sympathy