One Good Tour Deserves Another

Shortly after Austin Dickinson married Susan Gilbert, he announced to his father that the two planned to move to Michigan.  The conversation went something like this:
 
Austin:  Father, Susan and I plan to move to Michigan.

Edward Dickinson:  So I'd like to know where, you got that notion.  Said I'd like to know where, you got that notion,
To rock the boat
 
Emily:  Don't rock the boat, Austin –
 
Edward: Rock the boat
 
Emily:  Don't tip the boat over –
 
Edward:  Rock the boat
 
Emily: Don't rock the boat, Austin –
 
Edward: Rock the boat. Ever since our family’s trek began, our dreams have thrilled me like our love of the land --
And I’ve tried to keep you safe from a rolling sea
 
Emily (to Susan):  We’ve always had a quiet place to harbor you and me. (FYI:  This was said to be Emily's inspiration to write her poem "Wild Nights! Wild Nights!")
 
Edward: Our lives are like a ship on the ocean, we've been sailing with a cargo full of love and devotion.

At this point, Edward and Emily repeated their lines about “the notion” and “the ocean.”  Edward then told Austin that he would build him a home on the Dickinson’s property, and he’d make Austin a partner in his law firm.

The above exchange was documented in a letter from Emily to her friend Beatrice "Bea" Gee during what is now referred to as Dickinson's Disco Years.

At the right:  For a brief time n the late 1850s, Edward, Emily, and Austin Dickinson sang together in a trio called "The Dickinson Corporation."

Austin agreed to his father’s proposal, and Emily bounded upstairs saying, “That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh. That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh.

Below:  Two recently discovered photos of Dickinson from her "Disco Years":

That night, Dickinson wrote the first draft of her poem, “I took my Power in my Hand,"  shown at the right. 

The final draft of the poem is below:
​

​I took my Power in my Hand –
And went against the World –
'Twas not so much as David – had –
But I – was twice as bold –

I aimed my Pebble – but Myself
Was all the one that fell –
Was it Goliah – was too large –
Or just myself – too small?

That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh
I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh
That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh
I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh
 
When you take me – by the hand –
And we go against the World –
When I give you – all that David had –
And do it, babe – twice as bold –
 
That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh
I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh
That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh
I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh
 
I flung by Pebble -- to your arms
But I alone – was she who fell –
You’re like Goliah – living large –
Am I for you – just too small?

---

I mention all of this because I toured Austin and Susan Dickinson's home, the Evergreens, during my day in Amherst this past July, and there were reminders in the home of the Dickinsons' "Disco Days."  For example, Susan Dickinson's dull and dented disco ball still hangs above the dining room table (below). 

Below:  Pics from my tour of the Evergreens.

At the left:  Faces of the Evergreens

TOP ROW: Austin and Susan Dickinson
 
SECOND ROW:  Guests of the Dickinsons:  Mabel Loomis Todd (Austin's love) and Thomas Wentworth Higginson -- both editors of Emily's poetry after her death.
 
THIRD ROW: Martha Dickinson Bianchi, Austin and Susan's daughter, and Millicent Todd Bingham, Mabel Loomis Todd's daughter -- both took on their mothers' publishing projects involving Emily Dickinson's poetry. 
 
FOURTH ROW:  Alfred Leete Hampson and Mary Landis Hampson. Alfred was Martha Dickinson Bianchi's assistant, and Martha left the Evergreens to him and his wife following her death in 1943.  Alfred died in 1952, and his wife Mary lived in the home until she died in 1988.

From the EDMuseum site:  

After her mother’s death in 1913, Bianchi made few physical alterations to The Evergreens. In her will, she bequeathed the house to Hampson, who later married a mutual friend, Mary Landis. Bianchi’s will stipulated that, should Hampson and his family ever choose not to live in the house, The Evergreens should be torn down rather than sold to another owner. Mary Landis Hampson, the last resident and owner of The Evergreens, made arrangements in her own will to establish the Martha Dickinson Bianchi Trust to preserve the house for public use. In 2003, the Martha Dickinson Bianchi Trust transferred its assets to the Trustees of Amherst College so that The Evergreens and the Homestead could operate as a single Emily Dickinson museum.

Below:  A system of bells called servants to the various rooms of the house. 

Below left and right:  Pics from the Evergreens' nursery. 

More pics are on my travelogue, "Dial 'Em' for Emily," HERE. 

More posts from my trip are here:

08.03.2026:  ENETER THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, CLICK HERE.
08.02.2026:  FUN WITH JIM AND EMILY, CLICK HERE. 
08.01.2026:  THE BIG SLEEP, CLICK HERE. 
07.31.2026:  A WICKED ADVENTURE IN THE HUB OF THE UNIVERSE, CLICK HERE. 
07.30.2026:  PAINT BY BLUNDERS, CLICK HERE. 
07.29.2026:  YABBA DABBA DO BE DO BE DO WOP BOP A LOO BOP A LOP BAM BOOM DEE AY, CLICK HERE. 
07.28.2026: NOT YOUR GARDEN VARIETY, CLICK HERE. 
07.27.2026: THE TROUBLES WITH EMILY, CLICK HERE. 
07.26.2026: THE MAN WHO BLOGGED TOO MUCH, CLICK HERE. 
07.25.2026:  STRANGE TURNS ON A TRAIN, CLICK HERE. 
07.24.2026:  HOW SWEETEST IT IS, CLICK HERE. 
07.23.2026:  A DATE WITH DESTINY, CLICK HERE.
07.22.2026:  THIS – IS THE BLOG POST – ​THE SUNSET WASHES, CLICK HERE.
07.21.2026:  DOUBLE ETERNITY, CLICK HERE. 
07.20.2026:  THE ORACLE WORE A WHITE DRESS -- PART DEUX, CLICK HERE.
07.19.2026:  ALL THINGS MATTER, CLICK HERE. 
07.18.2026:  INTRODUCTORY PLOG POST ABOUT "DIAL 'EM' FOR EMILY," CLICK HERE.