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Letter-poem vs. Poem-poem

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I don’t know if this is controversial, but I’ve found after reading Emily Dickinson’s poetry in depth for the first time (besides the few poems in school/on Pinterest I’ve read) that I enjoy reading her letters more. Maybe I’ve gotten so used to Whitman’s long lines that I have been indoctrinated into liking longer lines more than short ones. The complex, image dense, and emotional letters make me feel like I’m “touching” Dickinson through the paper (Whitman style). Every word feels like it belongs, like every word was specially chosen after much deliberation. Yet, the words don’t feel forced. It doesn’t feel like the letters are trying too hard, or trying to be something they’re not. They’re also sooo image dense, from start to finish I am fully enthralled. It could also be the mildly taboo nature of reading someone’s personal writings. Who knows!

Bailey’s CS for March 17

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In our readings for today, I was particularly interested in Dickinson’s letter to Higginson on April 25, 1862 (#261). There are a lot of interesting mysteries within. She mentions “I had a terror – since September – I could tell to none” and then later in the letter seems to emphasize this secret trauma by saying, “They are better than Beings – because they know – but do not tell.”

Famously, some scholars theorize that Emily Dickinson’s most prolific years of poetry came about due to some possible trauma (which also could have influenced her progressive isolation). But I’m curious why she would have so cryptically mentioned it here and nowhere else? Perhaps she felt safe in some way because Higginson did not yet have a personal relationship/rapport with her? Or perhaps she was simply explaining the source of her muse to a fellow literary-minded person who might best understand?

Or maybe there is a way to read this letter as Emily Dickinson sort of putting on airs? Although she doesn’t express a desire for getting published, when I read this letter, it does feel a bit like she is seeking some sort of poetic validation as she asks for Higginson’s mentorship. There are several lines which I feel she wrote purposefully to play into Higginson’s potential ego or masculinity – “I went to school – but in your manner of the phrase – had no education,” “But I fear my story fatigues you,” and, of course, her infamous comment on Whitman.

To me, this all reads very sly and coy. Emily Dickinson is so incredibly smart and she’s almost downplaying that on purpose here in order to seek Higginson’s mentorship. It makes me wonder what her true feelings on Whitman are, because to me, it seems like she’s only saying that she was “told that he was disgraceful” because it could possibly align with what Higginson believes.

I’m interested to know what other people think of these mysteries. Is Dickinson being authentic here? Or is she intentionally playing a part? If she doesn’t want to be published, what is she looking for? Validation or true tutorship?