LarryB

I think the longest Hour of all
Is when the Cars have come —
And we are waiting for the Coach —
It seems as though the Time

Indignant — that the Joy was come —
Did block the Gilded Hands —
And would not let the Seconds by —
But slowest instant — ends —

The Pendulum begins to count —
Like little Scholars — loud —
The steps grow thicker — in the Hall —
The Heart begins to crowd —

Then I — my timid service done —
Tho’ service ’twas, of Love —
Take up my little Violin —
And further North — remove –

ED used the word:

“North” in 14 Poems,
“East” in 30 poems,
“South” in 16 poems,
“West” in 27 poems,

and sometimes she used two or more of these in one poem.

During 1850-1853, ED’s father led a small group of investors who built the Amherst and Belchertown Railroad, connecting Amherst with the American rail system. No doubt he was the one who encouraged locating the passenger station on Main Street, 200 yards east of Homestead. Perhaps Time did “block the Gilded Hands” of the clock, but not for very long. With no luggage, visitors could easily walk to Homestead in 10 minutes.

Despite ED’s impatience with Time, when she heard steps “in the Hall” she “timidly” bid hello, felt crowded in her “Heart”, and vanished to her room to play her “little violin”, that is, to compose poetry. ED often referred to composing poems as “singing”, but she used the “violin” metaphor twice, here in F607 and 20 years later in F1627 (1883), ‘The Spirit lasts — but in what mode’.

606.1863.Except the smaller size

Except the smaller size
No lives are round —
These — hurry to a sphere
And show and end —
The larger — slower grow
And later hang —
The Summers of Hesperides
Are long.

Our neighbor has an incredibly productive yellow-apple tree that holds its apples until first frost. She lets us pick and we’ve noticed that apples on inner branches are smaller than those farther out. These small apples stay roundish and lack rich sweetness of larger, outer-hanging, late-season apples. ED would probably know this from her family’s orchard.

Perhaps Lines 7-8, “The Summers of Hesperides / are long”, acknowledge that exceptional poems bake longer in ED’s white-hot subconscious.

There are three variants of F606, dating from about 1863 and 1866.

Variant A (summer 1863, Fascicle 26, Alternate words in parentheses):

Except the smaller size –
No Lives – are Round –
These hurry to a Sphere –
And show and end –

The Larger – slower grow –
And later – hang –
The Summers of (in) Hesperides
Are long-

Hugest (The Huge) of Core
Present the awkward Rind –
Yield Groups of Ones –
No Cluster – ye (you) shall find –

But far after Frost –
And Indian Summer Noon – (Sun –)
Ships – offer These –
As West – Indian –

Variant B (The first two stanzas of Variant A, signed “Emily,” were sent to Susan Dickinson about the second half of 1863.

Variant C (A later fair copy, substantively identical to Variant B, though without stanza division, was incorporated in 1866 into a letter to T. W. Higginson postmarked 17 March 1886 (L484):

“If I still entreat you to teach me, Are you much displeased? I will be patient – constant, never reject your knife and should my slowness goad you, you knew before myself that”:

Except the smaller size
No lives are round –
These – hurry to a sphere
And show and end –
The larger – slower grow
And later hang –
The Summers of Hesperides
Are long.

ED incorporated this one-stanza octave, Variant C, into Letter 484 to T. W. Higginson, postmarked 17 March 1886.

An interpretation of F606:

Except for ordinary poets, no poets’ lives are smooth (L1-2).
Ordinary poets quickly become predictable and showy and temporary (L3-4).
Great poets grow slower and deeper, and their poems become immortal (L5-6).
Their fame is eternal (L7-8).

511.1863.He found my Being — set it up —
ED’s alternatives (in parentheses); LarryB’s comments [in brackets]

He found my Being — set it up —
Adjusted it to place —
Then carved (He wrote) his name — upon it —
And (Then) bade it to the East

Be faithful — in his absence —
And he would come again —
With Equipage of Amber —
That time — to take it Home —

In Stanza 1 ED offered two alternatives that shed light on her intended meaning. Inserting these:

“He found my Being – set it up –
Adjusted it to place –
He wrote his name – upon it –
Then bade it to the East – ”

Lines 1-3 probably occurred in March 1855 when ED, age 24, first heard Wadsworth preach in Philadelphia. His legendary voice and powerful message “found” her “Being”, filled it with meaning, and “adjusted it” to poetry as her “place” in life.

Lines 4-8 probably occurred in 1860 (or perhaps 1861), when Wadsworth visited her in Amherst and “wrote his name – upon it” [her “Being”]. He knew he was relocating to Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco and “bade” her to remain in “the East” [Amherst].

In Stanza 2, he asked her to:

“Be faithful – in his absence –
And he would come again –
With Equipage of Amber —
That time – to take it [her “Being”] Home –”

As Susan Kornfeld explained in her F511 TPB explication, in poem F325 “the narrator and her lover exchange[d] a pledge that after they die they will rise ‘To that new Marriage’ possible to them 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 believed that promise was their crucifix-clad troth to marry in Heaven, and, probably as a sign of her “faithful[ness]”, she wore only white until her white coffin descended into its grave.

Adam, In your explication above, you ask:

“Could “mound” be a slant allusion to pregnancy? Has the narrator, the dead living woman, somehow hindered a pregnancy, or had her pregnancy hindered?”

Emily Dickinson herself answered your question in the two variants of F295: Variant A is a prayer to Christ, and Variant B is a prayer to God the Father:

295A.1862. Savior! I’ve no one else to tell –

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?

I think F295A is ED’s confession that her pregnancy [mound] miscarried, and she’s asking Christ to accept her baby into Heaven, even if she is not accepted.

295B.1862. Father – I bring thee – not myself –

Father – I bring thee – not myself –
That were the little load
I bring thee the departed 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?

I think Variant B is also a prayer, this one to God the Father, to accept her dead baby into Heaven.

274,1862.Again – his voice is at the door –

ED suggested seven alternate words/phrases, in {curly brackets}:  Line 8, 10, 13, 17, 18, 25, 29. My edits in [brackets]:

Again – his voice is at the door –
I feel the old Degree –
I hear him ask the servant
For such an one – as me –

I take a flower – as I go –
My face to justify –
He never saw me – in this life –
I might surprise {not please} his eye!

I cross the Hall with mingled steps –
I – silent {speechless} – pass the door –
I look on all this world contains –
Just his face – nothing more!

We talk in careless {venture} – and in toss –
A kind of plummet strain –
Each – sounding – shyly –
Just – how – deep –
The other’s one – had been – {foot had been}

We walk – I leave my Dog – at home {behind} –
A tender – thoughtful Moon –
Goes with us – just a little way –
And – then – we are alone –

Alone – if Angels are “alone” –
First time they try the sky!
Alone – if those “veiled faces” – be –
We cannot count – {That murmur so – ; That chant so – far -}
On High!
I’d give – to live that hour – again –
The purple – in my Vein –
But He must {should} count the drops – himself –
My price for every stain!
…………………………………………

A close inspection of F274 manuscript PAGE 4 suggests ED intended to break the final nonet (nine-line stanza) into two quatrains, combining LINES 25-26 into one LINE 25. Her sequence of thoughts certainly begs for a stanza break there:

Alone – if Angels are “alone” –
First time they try the sky!
Alone – if those “veiled faces” – be –
We cannot count – On High!

I’d give – to live that hour – again –
The purple – in my Vein –
But He must count the drops – himself –
My price for every stain!
…………………………………………………………………………

ED’s manuscript of this poem fills five pages of her fascicle, more than any preceding poem. It must have been an important poem to her because she continued considering changes in her final fascicle copy, which is atypical of ED. The poem describes “the second time I heard his voice”, which was in summer 1860. The first time was in late March, 1855, when ED heard him preach at Arch Street Presbyterian, in Philadelphia.
………………………………………………………………………………………………..

• L1: “Again – his voice is at the door –”.  Habegger (1998) tells us “Wadsworth’s deep bass tones, ….., produced an unforgettable effect.”
  .
• L8: “I might surprise his eye!”. ED considered replacing “surprise” with “not please”, which suggests she wanted to please her visitor.
  .
• L10: “I – silent – pass the door –”. ED considered replacing “silent” with “speechless” but didn’t. She certainly was not “speechless” in her conversations (JL342b, 16 August 1870).
  .
• LINE 13: “We talk in careless – and in toss –”. ED considered replacing “careless” with “venture”, but didn’t. Who knows what unspoken words follow “careless” and “toss”. Note that Stanza 4 is a quintain.
  .
• LINES 16-17: “Just – how – deep – / The other’s one – had been –”. ED’s original Lines 16 – 17, written in dark ink with a broad-bibbed pen read, “Just – how – deep – / The other one – had been –”, with no apostrophe “s”.  Perhaps she was implying without stating, “Just – how – deeply in love – / The other one – had been -”.
  .
  She considered replacing “other one – had been” with “other’s foot had been”, editing with lighter ink and a narrow-bibbed pen, perhaps thinking of the cliché “head over heels in love”, but she rejected the idea. Editors have ignored the obvious difference in the two pen tips.
  ……………………………………………………………………………

Habegger (1998) tells us:

“[ED] was in Washington, DC from Saturday, February 10, 1855, to Friday, March 9. She was in Philadelphia from Saturday, March 10 to [at least Monday, March 26]. She and Vinnie probably attended Wadsworth’s sermon on March [25], 1855, their last Sunday in Philadelphia.

“ED saw Rev Wadsworth only three times in her life: [late March 1855, summer 1860, summer 1880]

“After three weeks of Washington, Edward took his daughters to Philadelphia and then went home, leaving Emily and Vinnie to spend at least two weeks with their friend and second cousin, Eliza Coleman, on Nineteenth Street below Chestnut.

“On Saturday, March 10, 1855, ED and Vinnie arrived in Philadelphia after their visit to Washington, DC, with their father. They checked into the Willards Hotel, probably for one night, and [he] then left them with their friend and second cousin, Eliza Coleman, and returned to Amherst. They stayed with Eliza for two more Sundays, the 18th and 25th. On one of those Sundays, probably March 18 [My guess is March 25, ED’s last Sunday in Philadelphia], Eliza took them to Arch Street Presbyterian Church to hear the famous Rev Charles Wadsworth preach. One sermon was all it took, ED fell in “love”. After preaching, Wadsworth’s habit was to sit bowed at his pulpit, lost in thought; she probably did not meet him personally after the service.”
…………………………………………………………………………

Sometime after 1855, ED began correspondence with Wadsworth. She continued corresponding with him, and he visited her twice at her home in Amherst, probably during the summers of 1860 and 1880.

Habegger (`1998) presents compelling evidence, and I agree, that Wadsworth, 16 years ED’s senior, was the recipient of the three Master Letters, which Franklin dated “about 1858”, “about 1861”, and “early 1862”.

There’s one surviving letter from Wadsworth to ED, probably dated soon after he received ML1. In his letter he misspelled her last name and expressed sincere pastoral concern about her health, probably based on the alarming tone of ML1.

I believe that this poem, “Again – his voice is at the door –”, concerns Wadsworth’s summer 1860 visit with ED. The first word in the poem, “Again”, refers to the first time she heard his voice, on Sunday, March 25, 1855, at Arch Street Presbyterian in Philadelphia. As far as we know, his only other visit with ED in Amherst was during summer, 1880.
……………………………………………………………………..

Habegger, Alfred. 1998. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books (p. 373). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

265.1861.It can’t be “Summer”!

It can’t be “Summer”!
That – got through!
It’s early – yet – for “Spring”!
There’s that long town of White – to cross –
Before the Blackbirds sing!
It can’t be “Dying”!
It’s too Rouge –
The Dead shall go in White –
So Sunset shuts my question down
With Cuffs of Chrysolite!

In biblical times and ancient history, “chrysolite” referred to various yellowish and greenish stones, a versatile term for expensive and prized gems. Olivine (Chrysolite) is considered a hard mineral, ranking between 6.5 and 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, which means it is harder than glass and can scratch it.

Nice to see a fun poem amid the pain and introspection. ED manages to sneak in “Summer”, “Spring”, and “Dying” with caps and quotes, usually signals of metaphors, but they aren’t obvious here.

“So Sunset shuts my question down” begs a question mark somewhere, but it’s only implied.

ED poses a riddle: What season is it?

One by one she tells us the season is not summer, spring, fall, or winter, in that order. Lines 1-3 imply the weather is warm and the sunset gorgeous. So, what’s the answer to ED’s riddle?

She got us! It’s Indian Summer, of course.

180.ED’s  ‘Ebon Box’

“Historical records indicate that Emily Dickinson’s famous ebony box was given her by George Henry Gould, a close friend and confidant she met while they were both young adults in Amherst.

“Gould gifted her the dark wooden box in 1850. It became a personal repository where she quietly stored her private correspondence and hand-sewn packets of poems. After Dickinson died in 1886, her sister Lavinia inherited the chest and discovered the massive cache of nearly 1,800 poems inside, eventually leading to their publication.”
(Google AI Overview)

…………………………………

This black scarred box is the one Harvard eventually acquired in 1950. From the photo, it’s dimensions appear to be about 12”x12”x18”.

https://iraf.substack.com/p/dickinson-stops-the-clocks#:~:text=Dickinson%20Stops%20the,it%20was%20%E2%80%9Calive.%E2%80%9D

“Historical records indicate that Emily Dickinson’s famous ebony box was gifted to her by George Henry Gould, a close friend and confidant she met while they were both young adults in Amherst.

“Gould gifted her the dark wooden box in 1850. It became a personal repository where she quietly stored her private correspondence and hand-sewn packets of poems. After Dickinson died in 1886, her sister Lavinia inherited the chest and discovered the massive cache of nearly 1,800 poems inside, eventually leading to their publication.”
(Google AI Overview)

…………………………………

For a fuller explanation of its circuitous journey before it was given to Harvard, see:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLaMDv_tx3-/

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JL189. To John Long Graves, August 1856

“Ah John – Gone? Then I lift the lid to my box of Phantoms, and lay another in, unto the Resurrection – Then will I gather in Paradise, the blossoms fallen here, and on the shores of the sea of Light, seek my missing sands.

Your Coz – Emilie –“

Dickinson, Emily. The Letters of Emily Dickinson (p. 267). Harvard University Press. Kindle Edition.

……………………………………………….

“Emily Dickinson was not referring to the physical death of John Long Graves. Instead, the “event” was his permanent departure from Amherst when he moved away to become the principal of Orford Academy in New Hampshire. This physical separation prompted Dickinson to express deep melancholy, likening her absent friends to memories or “phantoms” in her emotional memory box” (Google AI, downloaded 6/4/2026)