Dickinson/Holland Correspondence: Poem 836

poems sent from dickinson to elizabeth holland

Thomas Johnson's Note on Poem 836

MANUSCRIPTS: There are two, both written about 1864. That reproduced above is in packet 87 (Bingham 43a). The other copy (H H 99) addressed "Doctor." and signed "Emily -," was sent to Dr. Holland. It is variant in line 6:

Truth - is as old as God -
His Twin Identity -
And will endure as long as He -
A Co Eternity -
And perish, on the Day
That He is borne away
From Mansion of the Universe -
A lifeless Deity.

PUBLICATION: The copy sent to Dr. Holland is in Letters (ed. 1894), 162; (ed. 1931), 159; also LL (1924), 188. It is mistakenly dated late autumn 1853. The text in LH (1951), 39, derived from Letters, since the autograph of the poem was not then available.

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