Editing Emily Dickinson (section)

=== Is "my Verse ... alive?" ===
In April 1862, [[Thomas Wentworth Higginson]], a literary critic, radical [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]], and ex-minister, wrote a lead piece for ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'' titled, "Letter to a Young Contributor". Higginson's essay, in which he urged aspiring writers to "charge your style with life", contained practical advice for those wishing to break into print.<ref>Johnson (1960), v.</ref> Dickinson's decision to contact Higginson suggests that by 1862 she was contemplating publication and that it may have become increasingly difficult to write poetry without an audience.<ref>Wolff (1986), 249–250.</ref> Seeking literary guidance that no one close to her could provide, Dickinson sent him a letter, which read in full:<ref>Sewall (1974), 541.</ref>

[[File:Thomas Wentworth Higginson.jpg|thumb|right|[[Thomas Wentworth Higginson]] in uniform; he was colonel of the [[First South Carolina Volunteers]] from 1862 to 1864.]]
{{Blockquote|Mr Higginson,<br />Are you too deeply occupied to say if my Verse is alive?<br /> The Mind is so near itself&nbsp;– it cannot see, distinctly&nbsp;– and I have none to ask&nbsp;–<br /> Should you think it breathed&nbsp;– and had you the leisure to tell me, I should feel quick gratitude&nbsp;–<br /> If I make the mistake&nbsp;– that you dared to tell me&nbsp;– would give me sincerer honor&nbsp;– toward you&nbsp;–<br /> I enclose my name&nbsp;– asking you, if you please&nbsp;– Sir&nbsp;– to tell me what is true?<br /> That you will not betray me&nbsp;– it is needless to ask&nbsp;– since Honor is {{sic|i|t's|hide=y|reason=this was standard English in the 1860s}} own pawn&nbsp;–}}

This highly nuanced and largely theatrical letter was unsigned, but she had included her name on a card and enclosed it in an envelope, along with four of her poems.<ref>Habegger (2001), 453.</ref> He praised her work but suggested that she delay publishing until she had written longer, being unaware she had already appeared in print. She assured him that publishing was as foreign to her "as Firmament to Fin", but also proposed that "If fame belonged to me, I could not escape her".<ref>Johnson (1960), vii.</ref> Dickinson delighted in dramatic self-characterization and mystery in her letters to Higginson.<ref>Habegger (2001), 455.</ref> She said of herself, "I am small, like the wren, and my hair is bold, like the chestnut bur, and my eyes like the sherry in the glass that the guest leaves."<ref>Blake (1964), 45.</ref> She stressed her solitary nature, saying her only real companions were the hills, the sundown, and her dog, Carlo. She also mentioned that whereas her mother did not "care for Thought", her father bought her books, but begged her "not to read them&nbsp;– because he fears they joggle the Mind".<ref>Habegger (2001), 456.</ref>

Dickinson valued his advice, going from calling him "Mr. Higginson" to "Dear friend" as well as signing her letters, "Your Gnome" and "Your Scholar".<ref>Sewall (1974), 554–555.</ref> His interest in her work certainly provided great moral support; many years later, Dickinson told Higginson that he had saved her life in 1862.<ref>Wolff (1986), 254.</ref> They corresponded until her death, but her difficulty in expressing her literary needs and a reluctance to enter into a cooperative exchange left Higginson nonplussed; he did not press her to publish in subsequent correspondence.<ref>Wolff (1986), 188.</ref> Dickinson's own ambivalence on the matter militated against the likelihood of publication.<ref>Wolff (1986), 188, 258.</ref> Literary critic [[Edmund Wilson]], in his review of Civil War literature, surmised that "with encouragement, she would certainly have published".<ref>Wilson (1986), 491.</ref>