 | Yesterday (HERE), I shared a poem by Dickinson which includes the word “coffee” – her only java-related poem – and I concluded with, “Did Dickinson ever write about tea?” As a matter of fact, she did! When I searched “tea” on the Dickinson archive, twelve entries popped up representing five poems; however, one of the five does not include the word “tea.” Instead, the search picked up the word “tea” in the corresponding notes, but the lines themself are tea-less. That particular poem is “Not all die early, dying young,” and in the comment section about the poem on the archive, the word “tea” appears in this statement: |
| “Publication: The text of the copy to Dr. Holland is in Letters (ed. 1894), 177; (ed. 1931), 171; also LL (1924), 261. The tea in LH (1951), 72, reproduces that in Letters.” Sooo…what the heck does that mean? Well, “LH (1951)” refers to the book Emily Dickinson's Letters to Dr. and Mrs. Josiah Gilbert Holland, a volume of letters edited by Theodora Van Wagenen Ward and published in 1951, and the letter in question seems to be this one, HERE. Thomas Johnson’s notes on this correspondence state the following: |  |
“The conclusion has been deleted. The date, at best conjectural, is that assigned in Letters, and followed in LH. The poem beginning ‘Not all die early, dying young’ is not a part of the letter, though in Letters it seems to conclude it, and is so printed in LH.
The friend whom the Hollands lost has not been identified. The quotation is from Matthew 6.21 (also Luke 12.34).”
Now, what does all of this have to do with tea? I have no idea – but the archive states, “The tea in LH (1951), 72, reproduces that in Letters.” I've contacted the Harvard peeps to see if someone’s willing to spill the tea! I'll let you know what it's all about if/when I hear something.
Okay, so four other poems do include the word “tea,” and those are “The grave my little cottage is,” “If anybody’s friend be dead,” “Unit, like Death, for whom?”, and “Sic transit gloria mundi.”
One of my favorites of these is "If anybody's friend be dead," a rather straightforward poem of experiencing grief through the memories and daily reminders of a lost friend. I particularly like line 7, "A prank nobody knew but them," to reflect the close and personal relationship one had with the soul now lost to the ages.
The friend whom the Hollands lost has not been identified. The quotation is from Matthew 6.21 (also Luke 12.34).”
Now, what does all of this have to do with tea? I have no idea – but the archive states, “The tea in LH (1951), 72, reproduces that in Letters.” I've contacted the Harvard peeps to see if someone’s willing to spill the tea! I'll let you know what it's all about if/when I hear something.
Okay, so four other poems do include the word “tea,” and those are “The grave my little cottage is,” “If anybody’s friend be dead,” “Unit, like Death, for whom?”, and “Sic transit gloria mundi.”
One of my favorites of these is "If anybody's friend be dead," a rather straightforward poem of experiencing grief through the memories and daily reminders of a lost friend. I particularly like line 7, "A prank nobody knew but them," to reflect the close and personal relationship one had with the soul now lost to the ages.
Below: A scene from Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion (2016) where Emily Dickinson (played by Cynthia Nixon) and her sister Lavinia entertain Rev. Charles Wadsworth and his wife. The two guests refuse stimulants like tea or coffee, leading to an awkward silence. “I’ll have water,” says Mrs. Wadsworth. Mr. Wadsworth follows with, “I’ll have hot water.”
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