Fragment of Imagination

Yesterday’s post included a fragment of a poem by Dickinson from Millicent Todd Bianchi’s 1945 edition of the poet’s previously unpublished works, “Bolts of Melody.”  Today I have two additional fragments:

Society for me my misery
Since gift of thee.

**AND**

Or fame erect her siteless citadel.

Bianchi includes this note about these two fragments:  “The two unrelated fragments…are written on the torn-off flap of an envelope.”

Johnson, Franklin, and Miller include the first fragment in their editions of Dickinson’s poetry as follows:

Society for me my misery
Since Gift of Thee –

However, the three editions do not include that second fragment.  Franklin’s variorum edition, though, provides this information about the jottings on the envelope flap: “About 1871, in pencil on the flap of an envelope, on which is also written an unrelated fragment of ‘Step lightly on this narrow spot.’”

Yes, somehow that second fragment “Or fame erect her siteless citadel” is related to Dickinson’s poem “Step lightly on this narrow spot.”  

I’ll look into that tomorrow!