Editing Emily Dickinson (section)

=== The woman in white ===
In direct opposition to the immense productivity that she displayed in the early 1860s, Dickinson wrote fewer poems in 1866.<ref>Habegger (2001), 498; Murray (1996), 286–287; Murray (1999), 724–725.</ref> Beset with personal loss as well as loss of domestic help, Dickinson may have been too overcome to keep up her previous level of writing.<ref>Habegger (2001), 501; Murray (1996) 286–287; Murray (2010) 81–83.</ref> Carlo died during this time after having provided sixteen years of companionship; Dickinson never owned another dog. Although the household servant of nine years, Margaret O'Brien, had married and left the Homestead that same year, it was not until 1869 that the Dickinsons brought in another permanent household servant, [[Margaret Maher]], to replace their former maid-of-all-work.<ref>Habegger (2001), 502; Murray (1996) 287; Murray (1999) 724–725.</ref> Emily once again was responsible for the kitchen, including cooking and cleaning up, as well as the baking at which she excelled.<ref>86. Murray (1999), 723.</ref>

{{quote box|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|width=35%|fontsize = 80% |quote=
<poem>
A solemn thing&nbsp;– it was&nbsp;– I said&nbsp;–
A Woman&nbsp;– White&nbsp;– to be&nbsp;–
And wear&nbsp;– if God should count me fit&nbsp;–
Her blameless mystery&nbsp;–
</poem>|salign = right|source= <small>Emily Dickinson, c. 1861<ref>Johnson (1960), 123–124.</ref></small>}}
Around this time, Dickinson's behavior began to change. She did not leave the Homestead unless it was absolutely necessary, and as early as 1867, she began to talk to visitors from the other side of a door rather than speaking to them face to face.<ref>Habegger (2001), 517.</ref> She acquired local notoriety; she was rarely seen, and when she was, she was usually clothed in white. Dickinson's one surviving article of clothing is a white cotton dress, possibly sewn circa 1878–1882.<ref name="Hab516">Habegger (2001), 516.</ref> Few of the locals who exchanged messages with Dickinson during her last fifteen years ever saw her in person.<ref>Habegger (2001), 540.</ref> Austin and his family began to protect Dickinson's privacy, deciding that she was not to be a subject of discussion with outsiders.<ref>Habegger (2001), 548.</ref>

Despite her physical seclusion, Dickinson was socially active and expressive through what makes up two-thirds of her surviving notes and letters. When visitors came to either the Homestead or the Evergreens, she would often leave or send over small gifts of poems or flowers.<ref>Habegger (2001), 541.</ref> Dickinson also had a good rapport with the children in her life. Mattie Dickinson, the second child of Austin and Susan, later said that "Aunt Emily stood for ''indulgence.''"<ref name="Hab547">Habegger (2001), 547.</ref> MacGregor (Mac) Jenkins, the son of family friends who later wrote a short article in 1891 called "A Child's Recollection of Emily Dickinson", thought of her as always offering support{{clarify|date=March 2019}} to the neighborhood children.<ref name="Hab547" />

When Higginson urged her to come to Boston in 1868 so they could formally meet for the first time, she declined, writing: "Could it please your convenience to come so far as Amherst I should be very glad, but I do not cross my Father's ground to any House or town".<ref>Habegger (2001), 521.</ref> It was not until he came to Amherst in 1870 that they met. Later he referred to her, in the most detailed and vivid physical account of her on record, as "a little plain woman with two smooth bands of reddish hair&nbsp;... in a very plain & exquisitely clean white piqué & a blue net worsted shawl."<ref>Habegger (2001), 523.</ref> He also felt that he never was "with any one who drained my nerve power so much. Without touching her, she drew from me. I am glad not to live near her."<ref>Habegger (2001), 524.</ref>