Writings by Susan Dickinson: Annals of the Evergreens

"The true Shekinah is man!
St. Chrysostom.

"One comfort is, that Great Men taken up in any way, are profitable
company.
Carlyle.

As I have been looking back in meditative fashion upon my life of
late, I am gratefully impressed by the personal influences which have stim-
ulated and delighted me, my relations with rare people who have given me
their best wealth and sympathy, sometimes a life of devoted friendship.
This has been increasingly true in my married life - partly it seems as a
happy accident ~~of life~~, but more as the result of ~~the~~ ^a hero-worship in the
genuine nature of your Father, inherited ~~by him~~ straight ~~from his~~ ^{own [?]} Puritan
^{a Puritan} Father, who was born loyal to the Gods.

I realize too most keenly how far better than money, or any material
good in a home is the ^constant association with high minded earnest men and women,
and the refreshment of their informal talk. of ^about literature, affairs, religion,
the supernatural, of ^{and of course} other men and women. Children too young to fathom the
depth, or follow the philosophy ^{of such talk} listen and are fascinated ^{as they are} lifted into new
^and enraptured hights [sic] ^{by the Spirit [?] upon their opening eyes,} as the Divine Spirit whispers in their ears ~~when~~ ^altho their
elders little ^[?] heed or suspect ^{the transmissions}. I can see you both ^{as youngsters} listening with wide eyes
to much of the home talk with magnetic visitors - perhaps feeling the charm


	Image reproduced by permission of the Houghton Library, Harvard University. Not to be reproduced in whole or in part without permission. Transcription and commentary copyright 1998 by Martha Nell Smith, Laura Elyn Lauth, and Lara Vetter, all rights reserved Maintained by Rebecca Mooney <rnmooney@umd.edu> Last updated on January 23, 2008