Letters from Ms. Dickinson

My senior thesis, as anyone knows who has endured my company for more than a few minutes in the past months, concerns 2 excellent female poets: Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Emily Dickinson. I am exploring the effect and interplay of their personal lives and circumstances on their art. I shall surely inundate you with thesis details as I return to active blogging. Today I just want to share the wit and sass of my dear Miss Dickinson.

From a letter to a friend, May 12, 1842 (age 12)
This afternoon is Wednesday and so of course there was Speaking and Composition [classes at school] - there was one young man who read a composition. The subject was "Think twice before you speak" - he was describing the reasons why anyone should do so. One was - if a young gentleman offered a young lady his arm and he had a dog who had no tail and he boarded at the tavern, think twice before you speak. Another is if a young gentleman knows a young lady who he thinks nature has formed to perfection: let him remember that roses conceal thorns - He is the silliest creature that ever lived I think. I told him that I thought he had better think twice before he spoke.

I'll leave you that sassy piece of wit to ponder.

Love,
Lilly