It might be worthwhile to demonstrate the profound impact of editing upon the meaning of Dickinson's poem. To cite one example, in Bianchi and Hampson's 1929 version of the poem, the last line of what would have been the second stanza reads "So I write Poets - All." In the manuscript, the line has two additional dashes and no period: "So I write - Poets - All -" By placing the dash between "So I write" and "Poets," Dickinson is forcing her audience to recognize the material practice of her writing ("So I write") and the fact that she herself is among the "Poets" she is identifying. By implicating herself in the textual process on these multiple levels, Dickinson is simultaneously placing herself above God (in the second and third stanza) and commenting on the futility of her enterprise (in the fourth stanza). In Bianchi and Hampson's version, Dickinson appears to be addressing all of these issues from a comfortable distance.

I reckon - when I count
At all -
First - Poets - Then the Sun -
Then Summer - Then the
Heaven of God -
And then - the List is done-

But - looking back - the
First so seems
To Comprehend the Whole -
The Others look a needless Show -
So I write - Poets - All -

Their Summer - lasts a Solid
Year -
They can afford a Sun
The East - would deem
Extravagant -
And if the Further Heaven -

Be Beautiful as they prepare
For Those who worship Them -
It is too difficult a Grace -
To justify the Dream -