Foreign Correspondence

How serendipitous is this:  on Father’s Day I learned about Mabel Loomis Todd’s father, Eben Jenks Loomis (pictured at the right). In all my years of Dickinson research, I’d never heard the name.  Not once did it pop up.  Then yesterday, on Father’s Day – and the Summer Solstice – I come across the name while investigation the publication history of “It will be Summer – eventually”

In 1896, Mabel Loomis Todd included that five-stanza poem in the third series of Dickinson’s POEMS but as a four-stanza poem.  The first stanza had been omitted, and other changes were made to the second and third stanzas.  I checked R. W. Franklins variorum edition of The Poems of Emily Dickinson (described as “A landmark three-volume edition of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, offering an unprecedented window into the mind of a singular American poet”) and discovered that the omission of the first stanza and the alterations in stanzas 2 and 3 were made by Mable Todd’s father, Eben Jenks Loomis.

So there it was – the name of Eben Jenks Loomis – in R. W. Franklin’s text, and it was the first time I’d ever heard that Todd’s father was involved in the editing of Dickinson’s poetry.  

I did a quick dive into the life of Loomis (On Wikipedia, HERE), and then on a whim, I ran a Google search on “Did Eben Jenks Loomis ever edit any of Emily Dickinson's poems” just to see what might pop up.  

I was not surprised that the “AI Overview” responded “No” – contradicting what Franklin reported – however, I was highly suspect on the info that Loomis was “a personal acquaintance of Dickinson who corresponded with her during her lifetime” (additionally, the Overview reported that Dickinson’s poems were “edited by his wife, Mable Loomis Todd” – who was his daughter, not his wife).
 
I looked into this – the bit about the “personal acquaintance” and the lifetime correspondence – and discovered from notes by Dickinson scholar Thomas Johnson, “In the autumn of 1884 the Loomises visited their daughter Mrs. Todd,” and that Dickinson did send to them a handful of letters in 1884 and 1885 (Dickinson died in 1886).  

Concerning the first letter, sent in October 1884, Cristanne Miller confirms in her book, The Letters of Emily Dickinson, “The Loomises were visiting their daughter Mabel in Amherst; ED did not see them” (also, in the letter, “ED alludes to 1 Peter 1:8”)."
 
Did the Loomises stop by the Evergreens, home of Dickinson’s brother Austin (with whom Mabel was having an affair) and his wife Susan?  Or did they have some reason to visit the Homestead, Dickinson’s home?  Perhaps Dickinson was invited to Mabel’s home for a intime soirée, but declined to attend.  But take a look at the text of Dickinson’s letter to Eben and Mary Loomis – she is apologizing for having not met them:
 
Dear friends,

The Apostle's inimitable apology for loving whom he saw not, is perhaps monition to us, who are tempted to the same turpitude.
 
Timidly,
E. Dickinson –
 
I LOVE that letter!  Especially the “who are tempted to the same turpitude” part, and the sign-off, “Timidly.”  I can just imagine Mable side-barring her parents, “I told you she was odd.” 
 
Evidently, the Loomises returned the next month, and they did stop by the Homestead.  Miller reports that they “called on Vinnie on November 4, returning to New York on the 7th.”  Once again, they did not meet the reclusive Miss Emily, and at some point after their visit, Dickinson sent this:

 
It consoles the happy Sorrow of Autumn, to know that plumbless ones are near.
 
My acquaintance with the Irreparable dates from the Death Bed of a young Flower to which I was deeply attached.
 
The element of Elegy, like Bugles at a Grave, how solemnly inspiriting!
 
Ascension has a muffled Route.
 
E. Dickinson.
 
In the words of a much younger generation than mine, I am gagged!  That letter is hilarious!  She couldn’t meet the couple because she was mourning the loss of a flower “to which I was deeply attached"?  And what the hell does that last line mean, “Ascension has a muffled route”?
 
Did the Loomises try a third time to meet Dickinson in that same month?  I don’t know – but in November 1884, ED sent them a third letter:
 
Parting with Thee reluctantly,
That we have never met,
A Heart sometimes a Foreigner,
Remembers it forgot –
 
In all the circumference of Expression, those guileless words of Adam and Eve never were surpassed, "I was afraid and hid Myself."
 
E. Dickinson -
 
I “hid myself” – I can’t stop laughing!  What must poor Mary and Eben have thought about this woman who refused to meet them? 
 
In all the circumference of Expression, these letters are delightfully droll and devilishly devious – and I’ll have more tomorrow!