Writings by Susan Dickinson: Correspondence with William Hayes Ward

Amherst Mass
March 23 /91

My dear Mr Ward

I have just read
your letter to my husband
and regret that I so
innocently have drawn
you into a hornet's nest.
I beg you will not be drawn
into any correspon-
dence with Miss Lavinia
over the poems, or allow

yourself to be troubled by her foolish fits
of temper which have worn into her
brother's life very deeply. She feels a little
baffled by my possession of so many mss. of Emily's
and is very foolish in her talk of law &tc &
I am quite used to her vagaries, and while
I pity her, I shall never yield a line in
my possession to her. It is an advantage to
have been printed in the Independent as
she well knows. I have a little article in

H bMS Am 1118.95, Box 9

mind, with illustrations of her (Emily's) own, showing her
witty humorous side which has all been left
out of her vol. I presume Mr Bowles will
be glad of it. I thank you for your
intelligent courtesy toward me in this
matter. The little poem I am happy to
have your sister keep - and pray do not
yield it up to any one. I will send her
another soon. I wish I could persuade my
daughter to send you an Easter poem she
has just written - but she is immovable,
having a most feminine horror of print

Yours very cordially
S H Dickinson

My daughter wrote a sketch - "My
Surviving Aunt" a couple of years ago
which I would like to send to you sometime -
I should have thanked you for the check
and the papers duly rec'd
SHD -


	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 25, 2008