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00:00:00Transcription by CastingWords
00:00:30Transcription by CastingWords
00:01:00Transcription by CastingWords
00:01:05Too much has been made of late of Emily Dickinson's girlhood friendship with her brother's wife, Susan, the daughter of a tavern keeper.
00:01:15But first, let me tell my story.
00:01:30I had just moved to town with my husband, who had taken a job at the university, and my young daughter, Millicent.
00:01:45Austin and Susan Dickinson were the social center of the village.
00:01:49Even at the first party I attended, I heard whispers about an unusual sister of Mr. Dickinson.
00:01:57They called her the myth.
00:01:59She never attended these gatherings, even though she lived right next door.
00:02:04I also met Mr. Dickinson's sister, Lavinia, who was having a gay time at the party.
00:02:12Lavinia invited me to come play the piano at the house that she shared with her sister Emily.
00:02:17I met all the members of the Dickinson family that night, all but one.
00:02:23I've just been reading an excerpt from the galleys of my upcoming book entitled, Scurrilous But True,
00:02:32which details how I assembled the first ever volumes of work by the undiscovered American poet, Emily Dickinson.
00:02:40I'm often asked to share my memories of Emily Dickinson, since I was so often at her house,
00:02:47where the spinster recluse never left her bedroom, and I never saw her.
00:02:54I did look on her face, but one time, when she was in her coffin.
00:03:00As I gazed upon her lying there, I knew that I had to be the one to publish her first book of poetry,
00:03:07and I did exactly that in 1890.
00:03:10Which makes me the first ever editor of Emily Dickinson's work.
00:03:47Hello.
00:03:49Look what I have for you children.
00:04:08When Emily's sister, Lavinio, went into Emily's room after Emily had passed,
00:04:09Lavinia opened a trunk.
00:04:11She was surprised to find thousands of poems.
00:04:13opened a trunk.
00:04:14She was surprised to find thousands of poems.
00:04:19She had no idea that Emily had been writing so much.
00:04:22It was quite overwhelming for her,
00:04:24so she brought all the poems to me.
00:04:27Since no one would publish a book of Emily's poems,
00:04:30which was rejected many times,
00:04:33Lavinia had to pay a publisher to publish Emily's poems.
00:04:39It was a vanity publication.
00:04:44Every publication needs promotion, however,
00:04:47and I was not ashamed.
00:04:49I must go forward sharing my special memories
00:04:53of this special poet who wrote her words in secret
00:04:58and did not show them to a soul.
00:05:09These are for you.
00:05:10So many.
00:05:12So many.
00:05:30It doesn't rhyme.
00:05:31I know.
00:05:41I like it.
00:05:49When Emily was a young girl,
00:05:50Emily's house was right next to a cemetery.
00:05:52And she would look out the window and watch the funerals,
00:05:56one after another.
00:05:58I think this partially accounts for her morbid curiosity,
00:06:03or at least her tendency to think about death
00:06:05more than the rest of us.
00:06:07Funerals were her entertainment.
00:06:10Funerals were her entertainment.
00:06:20You promised me pages today.
00:06:22I'm sorry I didn't finish.
00:06:24Emily, I rearranged my schedule to meet with you.
00:06:29I don't have anything.
00:06:31I don't have anything.
00:06:33I want you to show me whatever you have.
00:06:35All right.
00:06:39Here.
00:06:44I missed you.
00:06:44One cup of flour, add milk.
00:06:54No, it's on the other side.
00:06:55My calcium.
00:06:56Oh, wow.
00:07:06One cup of flour, add milk.
00:07:08No, it's on the other side.
00:07:12My soup.
00:07:13That's my letter to you.
00:07:15It's right beneath that at the bottom.
00:07:25as strange as the thing i know not it were as possible for me to say i love nothing so well
00:07:33as you but believe me not and yet i lie not i confess nothing nor i deny nothing
00:07:40i'm sorry for my cousin by my sword beatrice thou lovest me do not swear by it and eat it
00:07:48i will swear by it that you love me and i will make him eat it that says i love not you
00:07:56will you not eat your word with no sauce that can be deserved to it
00:08:01i protest i love thee
00:08:18why then god forgive me what offense sweet beatrice you have stayed me in a happy hour
00:08:28i was about to protest i loved you and do it with all thy heart
00:08:36i love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest
00:08:43come bid me do anything for thee
00:08:48susan it is your line
00:08:57kill claudio
00:09:04you were quite dashing
00:09:09do you think so really
00:09:11i myself was ready to marry you
00:09:14but unfortunately the ladies shakespeare society must end at a reasonable hour
00:09:20and the play was over
00:09:21we must for next time pick a story where the marriage happens earlier in the play
00:09:27romeo juliet perhaps it would be no good if we die in the end
00:09:34would you like it if i played opposite you again you've said nothing of my performance
00:09:39oh it was wonderful it was so witty and arch i cannot imagine that it was played better by
00:09:45the original actress thank you except in shakespeare's time the part was played by a man by a man
00:09:51yes all the parts were played by men
00:09:55in the love scenes two men would kiss each other
00:09:58yes that is not so strange
00:10:01you and i have kissed
00:10:04that is different
00:10:06i have not kissed you as i would kiss a man
00:10:09how would you kiss a man
00:10:12i will not show you
00:10:14and why not
00:10:16i cannot kiss you as i would kiss a man
00:10:19i could
00:10:21you have not kissed a man emily
00:10:24well perhaps i have
00:10:26i do not believe it or you would have told me so
00:10:30i have kissed many men
00:10:33in fact i have kissed every man in all of amherst several times over
00:10:38now i know you are not honest
00:10:40and i wish to kiss you
00:10:42and i will
00:10:44right now
00:10:45unless you stop me i will
00:10:47go ahead
00:10:50emily
00:10:54are you sure you do not wish to come to washington
00:10:58your mother lavinia and austin are all going
00:11:00you might be lonely
00:11:01i've invited susan to stay with me
00:11:03your cousin john will stay downstairs and you and susie can share the upstairs bedroom
00:11:07thank you mother
00:11:08are you sure we might be gone a full month
00:11:11susie will keep me company
00:11:15are you sure we might be gone a full month
00:11:18susie will keep me company
00:11:20what
00:11:22you are
00:11:23you are
00:11:24you are
00:11:26you
00:11:27you are
00:11:29you
00:11:31you are
00:11:33you are
00:11:34I'll see you next time.
00:12:04Her breast is fit for pearls, but I was not a diver.
00:12:28Her brow is fit for thrones, but I have not a crest.
00:12:37Her heart is fit for home, I, a sparrow, build there,
00:12:44sweet of twigs and twine, my perennial nest.
00:13:09Susan Dickinson was also known to share tales of the remarkable sister of Austen's
00:13:15who never went out and saw no one who called.
00:13:21On one occasion, Susan warned me,
00:13:24I went in there one day, and in the drawing room,
00:13:28I saw Emily reclining in the arms of a man.
00:13:33What can you say to that?
00:13:37I had no explanation, of course, but I could only imagine.
00:13:48I would say, I would say, uh...
00:13:55Emily, I...I so enjoy our visits.
00:14:04I notice you have several editions of the Brontes on your shelves.
00:14:10Are you a reader of theirs?
00:14:11Oh, yes.
00:14:12Oh.
00:14:13Let's see.
00:14:14The Gypsy Boy.
00:14:17The Gypsy Boy.
00:14:18Adopted by a family, who then taken a governess, who is plain.
00:14:24She is very plain.
00:14:25She is very plain.
00:14:30I remember that part.
00:14:32And they marry.
00:14:33Fire consumes the house.
00:14:34He condemns her ghost to walk the moors forever.
00:14:38Who is plain?
00:14:41She's very plain. I remember that part and they marry fire consumes the house
00:14:48it condemns her ghost to walk the moors forever and
00:14:53When they have children his eyesight returns
00:15:00I'm so sorry which Bronte story are you referring to judge Lord?
00:15:05Weathering Jane
00:15:11Do you like it?
00:15:13Yes, yes, and and especially to hear your abridged version of
00:15:19And especially to hear your abridged version of of
00:15:24The book it shows I think the point of the story which is a plain woman can be loved
00:15:33by a fire victim
00:15:35As a judge the book appeals to my sense of fairness
00:15:45I remember
00:15:47Remember your father would say to me
00:15:50If I die before you judge
00:15:54Look after my daughter she will never marry
00:15:58And it's not because she's so plain or because of her nervous condition
00:16:09But because she is so clever
00:16:11And no man would want to marry a woman who's more clever than he Jane
00:16:23Emily
00:16:25Emily
00:16:27Well
00:16:29I believe
00:16:30Enough has been said
00:16:31For today
00:16:32For today
00:16:33I must take my leave
00:16:35My carriage awaits
00:16:37Oh
00:16:38I believe Emily did have a fondness for the venerable old judge
00:16:44I think it possible she hoped to marry him
00:16:48However
00:16:49Judge Lord was to die abruptly
00:16:53After five years
00:16:55It may be that he never found quite the right time to ask
00:17:01Cheers
00:17:03Promise me you will never again take a teaching post so far away
00:17:17Emily
00:17:19Emily
00:17:19You know I am due to go west again
00:17:24Share your work with me
00:17:25Please
00:17:26But I write so many different versions of one poem
00:17:29Send it all to me
00:17:30If you write it
00:17:31I will read it
00:17:32I am sick today dear Susie
00:17:51And have not been to church
00:17:53There has been a pleasant quiet in which to think of you
00:17:57And I have not been sick enough that I cannot write to you
00:18:00I love you
00:18:02I love you as dearly Susie
00:18:04As when love first began on the step
00:18:07At the front door and under the evergreens
00:18:14If it is over
00:18:16Tell me
00:18:17And I shall raise the lid of my box of phantoms
00:18:20And lay one more love in
00:18:22But if it lives
00:18:25And beats still
00:18:27Still lives
00:18:28And beats for me
00:18:29Say me so
00:18:32And I will strike the strings
00:18:34Of one more strain of happiness
00:18:36Before I die
00:18:37Never mind a letter Susie
00:18:41You have so much to do
00:18:43Just write me every week
00:18:45One line
00:18:46And let it be
00:18:48Emily
00:18:50I love you
00:18:51Another letter for you from Miss Susie
00:18:55Any mail for me?
00:18:57No
00:18:58Emily
00:18:59There is an article in the Atlantic Monthly
00:19:00It is a call for young contributors to send in their material
00:19:04Who wrote it?
00:19:06Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson
00:19:08It is a call for young contributors to send in their material
00:19:11Who wrote it?
00:19:12Who wrote it?
00:19:15Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson
00:19:17You may call me
00:19:18My experience since you inquired
00:19:19Is that I edited poems for the Atlantic Monthly
00:19:22As well as for several anthologies
00:19:24And I helped start a petition
00:19:28To free the slaves in the Boston area
00:19:30Excuse me
00:19:31I meant
00:19:32The petition I circulated
00:19:34In the Boston area
00:19:35Of course there were no slaves in
00:19:37The Boston area
00:19:39No
00:19:39I meant
00:19:44What is your military experience?
00:19:47Military?
00:19:51Not seeing
00:20:06Still we know
00:20:09Lily Lily
00:20:10Who told you
00:20:11Dilly dilly
00:20:12Dilly dilly
00:20:12Austin
00:20:13Yes
00:20:13Yes
00:20:14No I remember
00:20:15Not knowing
00:20:16Guess
00:20:17Not guessing
00:20:22Smile
00:20:23That told me so
00:20:25And hide
00:20:26And half caress
00:20:29Austin
00:20:30You and Susan
00:20:31Sing so well together
00:20:32One ought to think
00:20:34You are preparing for an engagement
00:20:36Austin
00:20:36Austin
00:20:37Is to be married
00:20:38To Susan
00:20:39I'm glad
00:20:41I could be the betterer
00:20:42Of such happy
00:20:43Happy tidings
00:20:51She has a weak constitution
00:20:59I know it was unexpected
00:21:00I'm sorry
00:21:06I care for your brother
00:21:10Your dear brother
00:21:12Of whom you are so fond
00:21:14But my heart
00:21:15Belongs only to you
00:21:17Emily you cannot but have expected
00:21:20That I would marry
00:21:21I cannot make a fair wage
00:21:23As a school teacher
00:21:24And my appointments
00:21:25Have set us apart
00:21:26Many miles
00:21:27I will be near you always
00:21:29Just as I have promised
00:21:30My brothers will give money to Austin
00:21:32So that we may build a house
00:21:33And the greatest part
00:21:34Is we are planning to build it
00:21:35Right next door
00:21:36You will be next door?
00:21:37Yes
00:21:38And you see Emily
00:21:39Then we will be sisters
00:21:40And it is quite normal
00:21:41For sisters to spend many hours
00:21:42Alone in each other's company
00:21:43I have contrived a way for us
00:21:44To be together always
00:21:45And no one can prevent it
00:21:46I have contrived a way for us
00:21:47To be together always
00:21:48And no one can prevent it
00:21:53I missed you
00:21:54I missed you
00:21:57I missed you
00:21:59I missed you
00:22:00I missed you
00:22:12You're a big star
00:22:13I missed you you know I I wonder about Austin if he'll go to the war no Austin
00:22:26will pay for someone to stand in his place no but I wonder have you said
00:22:34anything about what I have to take precaution I mean if somebody were to
00:22:39find out nobody will find out Susan you have to be careful I have to be more
00:22:44careful you are the one who writes the poems puts it in ink sue forevermore
00:22:50you think that has another meaning sue forevermore that hardly speaks to the
00:22:54larger audience are you showing your poems about me to that Higginson you don't
00:23:00think he knows what they are about I think he does not after all I even
00:23:06publish my poem I taste a liquor never brewed that poem was not about I need to be
00:23:17more clever wait is Austin in the house
00:23:26let's go take your bloomers
00:23:36you
00:23:39you
00:23:43you
00:23:45you
00:23:47you
00:23:49you
00:23:53you
00:23:55you
00:24:08you
00:24:10you
00:24:12you
00:24:14you
00:24:16you
00:24:18you
00:24:20you
00:24:43you
00:24:45you
00:24:47you
00:24:50you
00:25:02you
00:25:06you
00:25:08you
00:25:10you
00:25:12one, between the instant of a wreck and when the wreck has been, the mind is smooth, no
00:25:20motion contented, as the eye upon the forehead of a bust that knows it cannot see.
00:25:42For more information, visit www.fema.org
00:26:12I have intended to write you, Emily, today, but the quiet has not been mine. I send you this lest I should seem to have turned away from a kiss. If you have suffered this past summer, I am sorry. I, Emily, bear a sorrow that I never uncover. If a nightingale sings with her breast against a thorn, why not we? When I can, I shall write. Soon.
00:26:42Susan. Oh. Susan. Kate. Katie Jane. It's the widow Kate now.
00:27:02Oh, so kind of you to host me on my travels. I just met your charming sister-in-law. Why have you been hiding her from me all these years?
00:27:12Emily is extremely busy.
00:27:14Funny, that's exactly what she said about you, that you were too busy for her. Shut out was, I believe, the expression used. She said she was surprised that you even had time for my visit.
00:27:24You invited yourself, Kate. I shall pay her a call. Emily does not broach an interruption when she is working at her desk.
00:27:34Is it the house on the left? You will not go there, I hope.
00:27:39She said I was welcome. She will not receive you.
00:27:42Emily experienced a love disaster that inspired her to draft at least three letters of heart-wrenching eloquence and infantile neediness.
00:27:52This was long after Emily had settled as a spinster at the homestead.
00:27:58Who was this steamy stranger who traveled from outside New England?
00:28:05Come to New England, one draft said.
00:28:08Open your life wide and let me in.
00:28:12No.
00:28:32No.
00:28:42Where is Kate?
00:29:02She's already left.
00:29:04She's already left?
00:29:06And she had no message for me?
00:29:09What's that in your hand?
00:29:10Uh, it was just something I was going to give her.
00:29:14Are those a pair of garters?
00:29:16Did you sew her a pair of garters?
00:29:18It doesn't take that long.
00:29:21Were you going to put them on her legs for her as well?
00:29:27So she had no message for me?
00:29:28No.
00:29:29Nothing.
00:29:30Nothing.
00:29:33Did she think she's coming back?
00:29:36Maybe.
00:29:38Maybe?
00:29:38She said she wasn't.
00:29:42Oh.
00:29:43And then she said July.
00:29:45And then she said she wasn't.
00:29:50Okay.
00:29:53You never made me garters.
00:29:55Sorry, let's go.
00:30:01Hmm.
00:30:11Hmm.
00:30:12Hmm.
00:30:12Susan knows she is a siren.
00:30:40And to add a word from her, Emily would forfeit righteousness.
00:30:57Thank you so much for coming.
00:30:58We'll see you again.
00:30:59Goodbye.
00:31:10Sweet Sue, there is no first or last in forever.
00:31:38It is center, there, all the time.
00:31:43To believe is enough and the right of supposing.
00:31:47Take back that bee and buttercup.
00:31:50I have no field for them, though for the woman whom I prefer, here is festival.
00:32:00When my hands are cut, her fingers will be found inside.
00:32:09Take the key to the lily, now.
00:32:12And I will lock the rose.
00:32:25What do you think?
00:32:26Do you like them?
00:32:30Yes.
00:32:35These poems are too idolatrous to print.
00:32:37Hm.
00:32:38You named me.
00:32:43Every poet has a muse.
00:32:46You can't use my name.
00:32:52Yes, I can.
00:32:55Do you like them?
00:32:58Yeah.
00:32:59I liked them very much.
00:33:05In truth, Emily had many influences over her work.
00:33:11She was inspired by the great Ralph Waldo Emerson.
00:33:15Is Mr. Emerson here?
00:33:17Yes.
00:33:19Can I come in?
00:33:20I'd like to hear what he has to say.
00:33:21We all would.
00:33:22Nature is the fullness of individuality.
00:33:28Within the floor and fauna are present many of the world.
00:33:35Within the floor and fauna are present many of the world's essences.
00:33:42The string is a reminder that all can be with you.
00:34:05Emily Dickinson wished to be published posthumously.
00:34:09Posthumous refers to the soul that finds more glory in the
00:34:15recognition after death than in life.
00:34:19It's the heaven of the literary world.
00:34:2510 or more poems copied into each book.
00:34:28800 poems all together.
00:34:30It's so strange not to see your poems written on scraps of paper.
00:34:37It was a lot of work copying all the poems into these booklets.
00:34:40It's beautiful.
00:34:41Thank you, Susan.
00:34:43I'm so nervous to show it to Higginson.
00:34:45You can't be that nervous.
00:34:47You will do just fine.
00:34:50Many people ask me, how did you succeed at getting Emily's work into the world when so
00:34:57many before you have failed?
00:35:01Well, I had the help of the renowned Thomas Wentworth Higginson to see Miss Emily Dickinson.
00:35:13She'll be right down, sir.
00:35:14Oh.
00:35:15Hey.
00:35:20These are my introduction.
00:35:22Huh.
00:35:23How was your trip?
00:35:25It was probably long, or short, or was it long?
00:35:28Are you surprised by my appearance, or am I as I describe myself?
00:35:32I wasn't.
00:35:33Wonderful to have the editor of the Atlantic Monthly pay me a visit, but I would imagine
00:35:36you must do that with all of your young contributors, but I'm certainly not young.
00:35:39How admirable of you to call for submissions, to give practical advice to those wishing to
00:35:45break into print.
00:35:46Also, I would imagine how burdensome to have to judge whose writing has merit.
00:35:50I mean, who can really have the final say on the worth of a thought or an idea.
00:35:57Well, I would imagine that's a very difficult position for you to be in as the editor of
00:36:02the Atlantic Monthly.
00:36:04That's a good question.
00:36:11I always ask myself, what is poetry in essence?
00:36:19If I feel physically like the top of my head is taken off, I know that is poetry.
00:36:24The question was intended to be a rhetorical one, largely, but allow me to answer it.
00:36:38Wordsworth says of poetry that it is emotion recollected in tranquility.
00:36:49When I try to organize, my little force explodes.
00:36:53Now, I notice that you remarked on how many submissions you receive with masculine names
00:36:57and very feminine handwriting.
00:36:59For women to use the pen names of men in submission, don't you think this must come out of an impulse
00:37:03for their writing to be seen without a jaundiced eye?
00:37:06For if it is women's authorship, even you realize that what is called women's authorship is somehow
00:37:12different from what we call authorship and yet would never call men's authorship.
00:37:16And why is that?
00:37:17Why is it with the phrase, women's writing, we are led to believe that perhaps a rescue
00:37:21effort from our troops needs to be sent to its aid?
00:37:24You mention it in your article.
00:37:26Why, yes, I am a supporter.
00:37:29The 19th century is the women's century.
00:37:33Change is afoot.
00:37:36You support the right to vote.
00:37:37I do, but I believe the suffragists should wait until there is no more political corruption
00:37:44and politics has become civil.
00:37:49You also mentioned that-
00:37:50And what and how do you distinguish that-
00:37:51I read seven newspapers and I think-
00:37:52Exotic in that.
00:37:53I mean, why is that-
00:37:55Are you a champion of posthumous recognition?
00:37:59Are you?
00:38:05Hmm.
00:38:06Certainly not.
00:38:07We can't delay in recognizing those who are-
00:38:10Who are-
00:38:11Who are what?
00:38:13Those with talent.
00:38:15When I recognize those with talent, especially women, women's voices are so seldom heard.
00:38:20We need to hear intelligent women's voices, but I am barely able to find any.
00:38:26I am hoping you might seek to publish one of my poems in the Atlantic Monthly.
00:38:34I have these new poems.
00:38:44Well, I will read your poems.
00:38:47But-
00:38:48I do not think you are ready to publish.
00:38:50You are-
00:38:51Oh, you are a-
00:38:54What?
00:39:01When I read your poems, so many of them make me feel unclear.
00:39:08I believe poetry should leave you with a trembling sensation.
00:39:11But when I read your poetry, Miss Dickinson, I am left feeling-
00:39:19I am not sure what.
00:39:20All men say what to me, but I thought it of fashion.
00:39:25If you are published before your time and showered with negative attention,
00:39:32you will see how little good it does you when it comes to-
00:39:42Various- various limbs of your poems need removal.
00:39:46Take this poem right here.
00:39:49If you take this line here,
00:39:51and you cut this line,
00:39:54and remove that line altogether,
00:39:56and then you move this line here,
00:39:59and these dashes, are they really necessary?
00:40:02You see?
00:40:03Do you see how it is improved?
00:40:05This is what you must think of
00:40:08every time you write.
00:40:10Well, I must go.
00:40:16Remember what I have told you,
00:40:18and it will serve your writing greatly.
00:40:23Thank you for your surgery.
00:40:25Ah, well.
00:40:27It is my profession, Miss Dickinson.
00:40:30Good day.
00:40:31It was delightful meeting you.
00:40:38I will come back again sometime.
00:40:42Say in a long time, that is nearer.
00:40:44Sometime is no time.
00:40:49Emily had met Higginson,
00:40:51but she failed to make a good impression.
00:40:54Higginson, reflecting on their meeting, said,
00:40:57she drained my nerve power.
00:41:00I am glad I do not live near her.
00:41:10Ladies?
00:41:12It's true, Higginson did not publish
00:41:14Emily Dickinson during her lifetime,
00:41:17but she didn't quite send Higginson
00:41:19enough poems for him to understand
00:41:21that she was ready for publication.
00:41:23How many did she send?
00:41:24Ninety.
00:41:25That's quite a lot.
00:41:26Not if you consider that she wrote nearly 2,000.
00:41:29Did she not send her good ones?
00:41:30No, she sent many of the same ones
00:41:33that are causing quite the sensation today.
00:41:35I'm not sure I understand.
00:41:38Well, Higginson wasn't the only one
00:41:40she sent her poems to.
00:41:42She also sent them to
00:41:44the Roberts Brothers Publishing.
00:41:46They also passed.
00:41:48Emily Dickinson's work is devoid
00:41:51of any true poetical qualities.
00:41:54And she sent them to Josiah Holland.
00:41:58Also a publisher.
00:41:59And the husband of her childhood friend,
00:42:01Elizabeth.
00:42:02So I understand your husband
00:42:04is publishing poetry now.
00:42:06You're writing a book?
00:42:16He never acknowledged receiving them.
00:42:17Higginson was a colonel in the war.
00:42:20He never acknowledged receiving them.
00:42:31Higginson was a colonel in the war.
00:42:34He witnessed legs, arms, heads ripped from the human body, maggots infesting the food.
00:42:44And yet, it was Emily Dickinson who exhausted him more than the horrors of war.
00:42:50Emily, I saw his carriage leave.
00:42:55He met with you for three hours.
00:42:57Yes.
00:42:58He must think highly of your writing to spend so much of his time with you.
00:43:03He's an esteemed and important man.
00:43:05Is he going to publish you in the Atlantic Monthly?
00:43:09No.
00:43:10No?
00:43:11That can't be right.
00:43:13That can't be.
00:43:14He came all the way here.
00:43:15He doesn't think I'm ready.
00:43:17He doesn't?
00:43:18No.
00:43:19I'm certain that it's because you're a woman.
00:43:23Helen Hunt Jackson is a woman.
00:43:27Higginson discovered her and he made her famous.
00:43:31Mother!
00:43:32I see you with your nursery light, leading your babies all in white.
00:43:43To their sweet rest.
00:43:44Christ!
00:43:45The good shepherd carries mine tonight.
00:43:56And that is best.
00:44:00America's Greatest Lady Poet!
00:44:02Emily.
00:44:03We will get you into print.
00:44:12Pain has an element of blank.
00:44:17Pain has an element of blank.
00:44:20It cannot recollect when it began or if there were a day when it was not.
00:44:27It has no future but itself.
00:44:32It's infinite realms contain its past enlightened to perceive new periods of pain.
00:44:39The body has no more and it is just chapter two of his body.
00:44:40The body has no longer.
00:44:41The body has no longer.
00:44:42The body has no longer.
00:44:43The body has no longer.
00:44:44The body has no longer.
00:44:45Lavinia, can you not quiet your cat?
00:45:13I think I will go play the piano.
00:45:18Oh, thank you.
00:45:21Lavinia, does your sister Emily love cats as much as you?
00:45:26Well, I'm sure nobody loves cats as much as I do, but Emily does love cats.
00:45:36One time she found a litter of kittens that didn't have a home, and she knew they weren't
00:45:42going to have a home, so she did the kindest thing.
00:45:46She drowned them in a vat, and then she pickled them.
00:45:51Lavinia.
00:45:52They're in our basement right now.
00:45:54In barrels.
00:45:55I'm sure you, Jess.
00:45:57No, they're there.
00:45:59I'll show you.
00:46:02So they're preserved?
00:46:04Mm-hmm.
00:46:05In case their mother comes back.
00:46:14Would you like me to buy you another dress?
00:46:16No, it's all right.
00:46:19You wear that same dress every day.
00:46:22Well, I don't want to spend any part of my brain thinking about what to wear.
00:46:26I want to save all my deciding for my writing.
00:46:29Imagine if Helen Hunt Jackson wore the same thing every day.
00:46:32What would people say about that?
00:46:34Maybe they'd say her poetry was better.
00:46:36Higginson might not be interested in her anymore.
00:46:38Oh.
00:46:40Did you hear?
00:46:41Higginson said he does not blame Walt Whitman for writing Leaves of Grass.
00:46:47He blames him for not burning it immediately afterwards.
00:46:50Susan, do you know that when Higginson first read the poems that I had sent him, he asked if I had read Whitman?
00:46:59As in, he thinks they are similar.
00:47:01That's how little he thinks of my writing.
00:47:03Whose work do you think we'll be reading in a hundred years?
00:47:06Higginson's or Whitman's?
00:47:07Well, Whitman's.
00:47:08Whitman's and yours.
00:47:09Oh, well.
00:47:10I'll have to get a book in print first.
00:47:13Emily, when I saw the first woman doctor in America graduate...
00:47:20When was this?
00:47:21You never told me about this.
00:47:23It was near my aunt's house.
00:47:25During the time you were not speaking to me.
00:47:27Yeah.
00:47:28Was this the time after I learned you had hid your engagement with my brother?
00:47:33Yes.
00:47:34For almost a whole year?
00:47:36Yes, it was at that juncture.
00:47:37Will you continue?
00:47:39When the first woman doctor in America graduated from medical school, everyone hated her.
00:47:46And the only reason she got into medical school was they asked the incoming class, would it be agreeable to have a lady study among them?
00:47:56They thought it was a joke and voted yes.
00:47:59And that's why we have our first woman doctor.
00:48:02I would like a strawberry now.
00:48:08Emily, your poems are ever marvelous to me.
00:48:18When you come to me with your fresh pages and I read them, they're full of things, things that are startling.
00:48:25It's so good.
00:48:27Why don't more people feel as you do then?
00:48:30The way you write, it's new.
00:48:35People don't know what to make of it.
00:48:38They've never seen it before.
00:48:41What was the rain?
00:48:43That was fun.
00:48:44Except the children.
00:48:45Oh, they're home, Emily.
00:48:46Oh, uh...
00:48:47No, should I?
00:48:50No, it's too late.
00:48:52Keep and I want to come in.
00:48:58I have a headache.
00:49:00I don't feel well and I'm going to lie back down in my bed.
00:49:05All right.
00:49:06You and your brother can go get some cookies.
00:49:09Cookies.
00:49:10Say hello, Todd and Emily.
00:49:20About here, of course, is where I enter everyone's lives.
00:49:27Oh, hello.
00:49:28How are you?
00:49:29I'm Mrs. Todd.
00:49:30I've come to visit Miss Dickinson.
00:49:31She requested I play piano for her.
00:49:32Ah, yes.
00:49:33Here's the piano you'll be wanting.
00:49:34Sit down.
00:49:35Here.
00:49:36Take a seat.
00:49:37All set.
00:49:38Will Miss Dickinson be joining me here in the drawing room?
00:49:40No, but don't worry.
00:49:41She can hear you fine from upstairs.
00:49:42Oh.
00:49:43Here's the music she'd like she left it for you.
00:49:46I'm not to see her at all?
00:49:48No, ma'am.
00:49:49And I'd like to make a request of me own.
00:50:13There's more LP pieces that I stood up after it would be worth respectively.
00:50:15I'll listen to you next time before.
00:50:16So we start playing.
00:50:17Look how does a phone call
00:50:18I
00:50:31Don't worry soky!
00:50:32Where's the wonderful Denis right for you?
00:50:35Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me.
00:50:48The carriage helped but just ourselves and immortality.
00:50:52We slowly drove, he knew no haste, and I had put away.
00:50:56My labor and my leisure, too, for his civility.
00:51:02I did help Emily's poems rhyme more.
00:51:13Why don't you come to church with us?
00:51:17Consider the lilies as the only commandment I keep.
00:51:20That's not a real commandment.
00:51:22Well, I guess I keep none then.
00:51:25Can I stay here with Emily?
00:51:27Looks like you have a convert.
00:51:30We can bake some bread.
00:51:32I'll take this convert's coat.
00:51:34Goodbye, my darlings.
00:51:35Goodbye, Susan.
00:51:36We'll see you later.
00:51:37Goodbye, Mother.
00:51:38Susan entertained relentlessly in the manner of her saloon.
00:51:43Excuse me.
00:51:45I meant salon.
00:51:47It's so long.
00:51:49It created a terrible racket, and it made it impossible for Austin to get any serious work done.
00:52:00Hello, Susan.
00:52:01Emily.
00:52:02Mini.
00:52:03Joseph Lyman back in Amherst.
00:52:06Have you returned to make an honest woman of Lavinia after all these years?
00:52:14Joseph recently got married, Susan.
00:52:17In Omaha.
00:52:19Oh.
00:52:20Where's your lovely wife?
00:52:22Oh, she's too delicate to travel.
00:52:25May I take your coats?
00:52:27Emily, would you kindly help me?
00:52:29Wake work.
00:52:30Please?
00:52:31I'll take your coat.
00:52:34Let's put the coats on the bed.
00:52:50What happened with Lavinia?
00:53:03She's heartbroken.
00:53:04Why didn't you tell me?
00:53:06I tried to signal you.
00:53:07Oh.
00:53:08Guess who's downstairs?
00:53:09Who?
00:53:10Kate.
00:53:11She come to see you or me?
00:53:13I don't know.
00:53:14I don't like it.
00:53:15I'm sorry.
00:53:16Mmm.
00:53:17Let me show you.
00:53:18You.
00:53:19We should go down.
00:53:20I want to stay here on the coats.
00:53:21I know.
00:53:22Forever.
00:53:23You.
00:53:24I know.
00:53:25I know.
00:53:26Forever.
00:53:27I know.
00:53:28Oh.
00:53:29Guess who's downstairs.
00:53:30Who?
00:53:31Kate.
00:53:32She come to see you or me?
00:53:34I don't know.
00:53:35How will I get?
00:53:36I'm sorry.
00:53:37Mmm.
00:53:38You.
00:53:39We should go down.
00:53:42I want to stay here on the coats.
00:53:43I know.
00:53:45Forever.
00:53:46Come on. Come on.
00:53:53Did you know we posed for a daguerreotype together?
00:53:56No.
00:53:57It was quite remarkable. Really.
00:53:59Susan!
00:54:00Sam, you old bulls, I had no idea you'd be joining us this evening.
00:54:05Well, I adore you and I adore parties, so of course.
00:54:08Are you still teaching poor children in Longtown?
00:54:11Yes, I am. It's, uh, very...
00:54:16Um, that's Emily's sister.
00:54:19Lavinia. Lavinia, yes.
00:54:21She's a dear.
00:54:22Yes.
00:54:23When are you going to publish more of Emily's poems in your paper?
00:54:27Emily has sent you so many.
00:54:29Yes, well, I was just speaking about this with your lovely friend, Kate.
00:54:33I advised Emily not to seek publication in general.
00:54:36The rhymes are a bit off. Don't you think she could work on them?
00:54:40That is an excellent point, yes.
00:54:42She's very devoted to her poems and to her writing.
00:54:45She is, she is.
00:54:46I know it would mean so much to her to see them in the paper.
00:54:51Oh, a paper perhaps. Maybe not my paper.
00:54:54Well, your father did give you your paper.
00:54:58Yes, and now it's my paper, so...
00:55:00And you are the editor, correct?
00:55:02Is there food?
00:55:04Is Emily here? I should like to say hello.
00:55:10Where is Emily?
00:55:13I would like to say hello.
00:55:19Why!
00:55:21I'm going to say hello.
00:55:22I'm going to say hello.
00:55:23I'm going to say hello.
00:55:24I'm going to say hello.
00:55:26What?
00:55:27Apostle is askew.
00:55:29Corinthians 115 narrates,
00:55:31a circumstance or two.
00:55:39Austin.
00:55:40What is it, my dear?
00:55:42Your sideburn is in my eye.
00:55:44Oh, sorry.
00:55:57I wish you paid as much attention to the work I do
00:56:01of going over the town's ledger books
00:56:03as you do to her poetry fascicles.
00:56:06I know nothing about financial matters.
00:56:09It cannot be helpful in that regard.
00:56:12The children say that they carry messages back and forth
00:56:16three and four times a day.
00:56:18So, what of it?
00:56:20In this town, one is paid for delivering the mail,
00:56:23and I do not wish my children to act as postmasters.
00:56:26I would have thought a note passing between girls
00:56:31is an activity chiefly confined to school days.
00:56:35You are passing an awful lot of time in Mrs. Todd's company.
00:56:41Of course, in Harvard we played armor,
00:56:44but that's not a game for the ladies.
00:56:46Something I know little about,
00:56:47having gone to only boys' school.
00:56:49Oh, Lavinia, you know Parson Mudd?
00:56:52Oh, hello, Parson.
00:56:53Greetings.
00:56:54How was boys' school?
00:56:57Ah, Mrs. Todd hath arrived.
00:56:59Mr. Dickinson was my husband David's boss.
00:57:03David was quite pleased that Austin had taken a liking to me.
00:57:09I suppose nobody in the town could be born, married, or buried,
00:57:15or make an investment, or buy a house lot,
00:57:18or a cemetery lot, or sell a newspaper,
00:57:22or build a house, or choose a profession,
00:57:25without Austin Dickinson close at hand.
00:57:28Will your husband be joining us tonight?
00:57:33Unfortunately, he's wrapped up in work.
00:57:36You know how he is.
00:57:37And your wife, Susan?
00:57:39She is in Springfield for the night.
00:57:45I moved to Amherst with my husband,
00:57:47the internationally renowned astronomer David Peck Todd,
00:57:54now hospitalized.
00:57:56Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
00:58:01and sings the tune without the words
00:58:04and never stops at all.
00:58:06And sweetest, Amy Gale!
00:58:09If you were at the house every day,
00:58:31why did you never see her?
00:58:33Are you here to give me my after-dinner treat?
00:58:40Do you deserve one?
00:58:41Well, it's difficult to explain
00:58:43why I never saw Emily face to face.
00:59:03Mr. Dickinson.
00:59:13It was because she was a recluse.
00:59:20Why else would she never come out of her room to greet me?
00:59:31She was a recluse.
00:59:33Are you crying?
00:59:34I don't know...
00:59:37Yeah.
00:59:38No.
00:59:39No.
00:59:40No.
00:59:41No.
00:59:42No.
00:59:43No.
00:59:44No.
00:59:45No.
00:59:46No.
00:59:48No.
00:59:49No.
00:59:50Yes.
00:59:52Oh, no.
00:59:53No.
00:59:54No.
00:59:55No, no.
00:59:56No.
00:59:57No.
00:59:59No.
01:00:00No.
01:00:01No.
01:00:02No.
01:00:03I can wade grief, whole pools of it, I'm used to that, but the least push of joy breaks
01:00:24up my feet, and I tip drunken, let no pebble smile, t'was the new liquor, that was all.
01:00:54Hello, Emily, why do you keep telling me you are okay, hello, hi dear, why do you keep
01:01:24it?
01:01:25Lavinia, thank you so much for meeting me here, my pleasure, and thank you so much for hosting
01:01:33me and my dear friend, Mabel Todd, at the homestead so often, you do seem fond of Mabel Todd, she
01:01:44is Bonneville's company, I have a question, are you satisfied with my management of your
01:01:50financial affairs?
01:01:51Yes.
01:01:52I'm very pleased to hear that.
01:01:56The law places a stringent burden on me in that regard, and I do like to feel that I'm doing
01:02:03justice by you.
01:02:05I wonder if you could do me a favor and make it so that our Mabel Todd could simply meet
01:02:16our dear sister Emily face to face, simply see her.
01:02:22To see her?
01:02:23What about if I do a sketch of Emily and present that to Mabel Todd?
01:02:28She can even keep the sketch for herself.
01:02:30Or one of your lovely silhouette cuttings.
01:02:32Yes.
01:02:33Yes.
01:02:34Yes.
01:02:35Or perhaps a...
01:02:36That should suffice.
01:02:37A watercolor.
01:02:38You could learn that, and then do a painting ever later.
01:02:41That would be my pleasure.
01:02:42That would be marvelous, and it's a very helpful suggestion.
01:02:46But I wonder if you wouldn't just impose, suggest, persuade our Emily to just remain in the drawing
01:02:56room while Mabel is playing the piano for a minute and simply say, so pleased to meet you.
01:03:05What if Mabel dresses like Emily and looks at herself in the mirror?
01:03:19To some degree, that's already been done, and it's not been satisfactory.
01:03:24Oh.
01:03:25Does Mabel know that Emily is a person?
01:03:31Because I do also have a cat named Emily Dickinson.
01:03:36So we wouldn't be lying.
01:03:39She would be meeting Emily Dickinson.
01:03:43That was my wife.
01:04:10Emily, I want you to know that Austin promised he would never touch me.
01:04:30He...
01:04:31He wrote a letter to me before we were married saying that if I married him he would never touch me.
01:04:36He did?
01:04:37Yes.
01:04:38Well, why didn't you ever speak of this before?
01:04:40I found the very subject distasteful.
01:04:43Well, obviously he didn't keep his promise.
01:04:45Emily!
01:04:46Well, what did you expect during the marriage?
01:04:48Well, Emily, you enjoy talking to me.
01:04:50I thought Austin would find that to be enough.
01:04:53Emerson himself said I was brilliant.
01:04:56Then this Mabel comes along.
01:04:59I thought you'd be relieved.
01:05:01Why would I be relieved?
01:05:02Well, because...
01:05:03Do you understand that when my children come to town, people point at them and whisper?
01:05:08My children.
01:05:09People cross the street when they see them coming.
01:05:11They feel sorry for them.
01:05:13He's parading around town with that strumpet.
01:05:17I know that Austin would never...
01:05:19Would never!
01:05:20Would never what?
01:05:21He's trying to give some land to her.
01:05:23Land that should be theirs.
01:05:24He's had a lawyer draw up a deed.
01:05:26He wants you and Lavinia to sign it.
01:05:28Susan, I would never let that happen.
01:05:30Never fear.
01:05:31Never.
01:05:32In the month following, their eight-year-old child, Gilbert, died.
01:06:02All my condolences, my dear friend.
01:06:05Let me know if there's any way in which I may be of help.
01:06:27Mrs. Todd seems very familiar with Mr. Dickinson.
01:06:30It's scandalous.
01:06:31I've never seen anything like it.
01:06:33I saw her ankle.
01:06:39You have a wicked turn of mind.
01:06:41I was rereading our passionate correspondence the other night, as I often do.
01:06:46As I do too, my sweet.
01:06:48And as I was reading these letters, professing our love for each other,
01:06:53I was struck with the inspiration that these letters would actually make a beautiful published book.
01:07:01You mean bound?
01:07:02No!
01:07:03You mean a bound volume?
01:07:04Oh, no!
01:07:05Published so the whole world can read our pure love and inspire everyone around those poor souls who don't have what we have.
01:07:11Oh, but Austin, I don't care.
01:07:14I want to share the pure love that you and I have.
01:07:16Mabel.
01:07:17I was thinking, usually books of letters are organized in such a way where it's chronological, the correspondence over the years.
01:07:24But I was thinking, maybe we can do, we can organize them in topics like pure love, unbridled passion, excursions.
01:07:37What, Austin?
01:07:38That, uh, the black mogul, your wife.
01:07:41I, myself, have connections in publishing.
01:07:44I've been published myself.
01:07:46Made a little bit of a name to myself.
01:07:49Dear Mabel.
01:07:50No.
01:07:51Oh!
01:07:52Oh!
01:07:53Oh!
01:07:54Some day, you'll find a proper outlet for your creative expression and everyone will know just how brilliant you are.
01:08:13Mm.
01:08:14Why not paint more crockery?
01:08:28Emily, all's well.
01:08:31There were two or three little things I wanted to talk with you about without witnesses.
01:08:36But tomorrow will do just as well.
01:08:41Has girl read Republican?
01:08:44It takes as long to start our fleet as the burn side.
01:08:50A few newspapers did publish some of Emily's poems.
01:08:59But the results were disappointing.
01:09:03This is my poem.
01:09:15The snake?
01:09:16They do that.
01:09:17It doesn't bother the average reader.
01:09:20Hmm.
01:09:21I don't title my poems.
01:09:22I always felt that what people needed to understand Emily's poems were titles.
01:09:31So I gave all the poems titles.
01:09:34Titles are important because it's a clue to the audience of what they're reading.
01:09:41You can't just sit down and read jibber-jabber.
01:09:48It's a clear thesis.
01:09:51A title is a clear thesis.
01:09:54I-I thought you'd be delighted to see your poem in the paper.
01:10:00Thank you so very much.
01:10:04I'd also like to make note of other contributions that I gave to Emily's book of poems.
01:10:13I also did the cover art.
01:10:16That's my painting that I gave to Emily.
01:10:23That's why it's on the cover of the book.
01:10:26I'm sure she would have chosen it too if she were alive.
01:10:31It's beautiful, though.
01:10:34Your poem is in the paper.
01:10:37Everyone will read it.
01:10:39The title ruins the experience.
01:10:41Imagine if they called Romeo and Juliet.
01:10:43They both die at the end.
01:10:45Happy Valentine's Day.
01:10:52No one knew how sick Emily really was.
01:11:01We were all shocked.
01:11:08When we realized that she would die.
01:11:15The entire town felt something was amiss.
01:11:20When our dear sweet spinster recluse poet left our planet.
01:11:31Emily's decline was swift.
01:11:36Why do you fail?
01:11:37Why do you fail?
01:11:38Why do you fail?
01:11:43Why do you fail?
01:11:44Why do you fail?
01:11:45Why do you fail?
01:11:50Why do you fail?
01:11:57Why do you fail?
01:11:59Why do you fail?
01:12:00Why do you fail?
01:12:05for beauty
01:12:14and I for truth
01:12:25themselves are one
01:12:33we
01:12:35brethren
01:12:37are
01:12:59and covered up our names
01:13:03I think this is about
01:13:08I don't think I know
01:13:33I think this is about
01:13:38the
01:13:40the
01:13:42the
01:13:43the
01:13:44the
01:13:46the
01:13:47the
01:13:58the
01:14:00the
01:14:01the
01:14:02the
01:14:03the
01:14:04the
01:14:19the
01:14:20the
01:14:23I would like to ask if you would wash her body.
01:14:43Austin and I are too distressed.
01:14:46Is Austin here?
01:14:47No.
01:14:48I'll expect he's over at the Todd's.
01:14:51The basin and sponge are at the foot of the bed.
01:15:21Although all your surface are dry,
01:15:23I want to use the water.
01:15:26The water can also be wet.
01:15:28I want to add water to the outside.
01:15:31I'll add water.
01:15:32There's lots of water on the side.
01:15:34I don't want to put our water into the water.
01:15:36I don't want to put our water in the water.
01:15:39I'll dye it some water.
01:15:41Water is very easy.
01:17:45I understood it.
01:17:47Starting from when they were teenage girls.
01:18:01Wild nights.
01:18:11Wild nights.
01:18:13Were I with thee.
01:18:17Wild nights should be our luxury.
01:18:21Futile the winds to a heart in port.
01:18:25Done with the compass.
01:18:27Done with the chart.
01:18:29Rowing in Eden.
01:18:31Ah, the sea.
01:18:33Might I but more tonight in thee.
01:18:39In thee.
01:18:41Mabel.
01:18:43I have something for you.
01:18:47Yeah.
01:18:59Yes.
01:19:00What is it?
01:19:01Don't you see? It's the letters of our names, Austen and Mabel, intertwined.
01:19:08I will cherish this forever. Thank you, Austen.
01:19:13So, Austen, I've been putting together Emily's letters for this book that I'm publishing, and I'm looking at her letters to you about Susan,
01:19:25and there seems to be a very peculiar passion that Emily has towards Susan.
01:19:32Well, if it troubles you, simply leave them out of the collection.
01:19:35Oh, no, no, no. She must have written a dozen letters a day.
01:19:37No, no, no, no. The prose is gorgeous.
01:19:40I'm just simply saying that the general reader would find these letters in the poems more appealing, if you will,
01:19:49if they were, say, addressed to a man.
01:19:53Just imagine Emily pining away in her room, unrequited love.
01:20:00Why don't I think about that? And while you think about it, I need you to erase Susan's name in these letters,
01:20:10and we will dedicate them to other correspondence.
01:20:15Hmm. Uh, well...
01:20:18Well, very good, my dear.
01:20:23Emuastively.
01:20:26That's exactly how I feel.
01:20:30I'll take this to my study.
01:20:33The poets light, but lamps themselves go out.
01:20:42The wicks they stimulate, if vital light,
01:20:46Inhere as do the suns, each age and lens, disseminating their circumference.
01:20:55Applause
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01:21:39Applause
01:21:40adulkie
01:21:42Applause
01:21:43click
01:21:59Convenience
01:22:00Pulling
01:22:01Mexica
01:22:03Clock
01:22:06Assurů
01:22:08Sug Deck
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