My two most recent posts focused on Dickinson’s poem “The Flower must not blame the bee.” In letters to each other, Mabel Loomis Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higginson discussed whether or not to include the poem in their second collection of Dickinson’s poems after the first edition had been so successful. They did not – and they did not include it in their third collection either. The poem was not presented to the public until Dickinson’s niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, put it in a collection of Dickinson’s poems that she published in 1935.
Another poem debated by Todd and Higginson was “She laid her docile crescent down.”
In a letter to Higginson dated July 22, 1891, Todd said, “I send ‘She laid her docile crescent down.’ I do not understand it, and although it is beautiful, I omitted it because there were already so many more for Vol. II than had appeared in Vol. I. If you care to include it, I shall approve.”
Evidently, Higginson did not care to rescue the poem. Well, I don’t really know how Higginson responded to Todd’s letter; however, the poem was not included in the second series. However – drumroll, please – it was presented in the third.
By the way, in her book Ancestors’ Brocades, Todd’s daughter Millicent Todd Bingham noted that, “‘She laid her docile crescent down’ was called ‘Epitaph’ by Emily (and titled ‘The Monument” by Todd in the Third Series, page 157). For the second line, 'And this mechanic stone,' there were two alternative readings, ‘And this subjunctive stone,’ or ‘And this confiding stone.’”
Another poem debated by Todd and Higginson was “She laid her docile crescent down.”
In a letter to Higginson dated July 22, 1891, Todd said, “I send ‘She laid her docile crescent down.’ I do not understand it, and although it is beautiful, I omitted it because there were already so many more for Vol. II than had appeared in Vol. I. If you care to include it, I shall approve.”
Evidently, Higginson did not care to rescue the poem. Well, I don’t really know how Higginson responded to Todd’s letter; however, the poem was not included in the second series. However – drumroll, please – it was presented in the third.
By the way, in her book Ancestors’ Brocades, Todd’s daughter Millicent Todd Bingham noted that, “‘She laid her docile crescent down’ was called ‘Epitaph’ by Emily (and titled ‘The Monument” by Todd in the Third Series, page 157). For the second line, 'And this mechanic stone,' there were two alternative readings, ‘And this subjunctive stone,’ or ‘And this confiding stone.’”
One point of clarification: Dickinson did not title the poem “Epitaph.” Instead, in an August 1877 letter to Higginson, Dickinson enclosed four poems: “It sounded as if the streets were running,” “She laid her docile crescent down,” “I have no life but this,” and “After all the birds have been investigated and laid aside.” In that letter, Dickinson presented the four poems with this statement: “I send you a Gale, and an Epitaph – and a Word to a Friend, and a Blue Bird, for Mrs. Higginson. Excuse them if they are untrue –”
More on this poem tomorrow.
More on this poem tomorrow.
RSS Feed
