Letters in Poems: Emily Dickinson

In a previous entry we made reference to the details of writing a letter and included Charlotte Brontë's poem which described that ritual in detail. Instead, today we focus on the recipient, the ritual of reading a letter. Emily Dickinson, who we discussed in an earlier post regarding her letters, wrote this poem "The Way I read a Letter's - this", where she describes the intimacy of this act (locking the door, going the further off), where the recipient needs to seclude herself to fully enjoy the reading experience.

The Way I read a Letter's—this—

'Tis first—I lock the Door—

And push it with my fingers—next—

For transport it be sure—

And then I go the furthest off

To counteract a knock—

Then draw my little Letter forth

And slowly pick the lock—

Then—glancing narrow, at the Wall—

And narrow at the floor

For firm Conviction of a Mouse

Not exorcised before—

Peruse how infinite I am

To no one that You—know—

And sigh for lack of Heaven—but not

The Heaven God bestow—

Woman Reading a Letter by Adeline Albright Wigand