Emily Dickinson The Gorgeous Nothings ‘Maria Werner Jen Bervin with a Preface by Susan Howe (CHRISTINE BURGIN / NEW DIRECTIONS {in asocinton with Granary BooksPreface Susan Howe Wallace Stevens famously sass that “Poetry is the scholars ae” In The Gorgeous [Noting textual scholae snd a wsual arts ave combined creat an exhibit in book form: the facsimile reproductions with transcriptions of the envelope \itngs of Emily Dickinson | prew up on the Thomas H, Johason edition of The Coletad Pons published in 1951, Tacs how I fist knew and loved this poet of poets. Thelieved I was reading exacts what she had wtten—I found the dashes and capitals both radical and formal. The measure equally s0 until, in 1981, Ralph Franklin’ facsimile edition ofthe Mansy Books showed the same words, bu with increasingly diffrent ine bess, preadacrosthe entre space of page. Many poems contained vatiane wor lists as par ofthe texts themscles. They were grouped together in various packess. There was now a possibility that ‘these groupings might have been inended as serial works. But Franklin dda provide transcriptions Pethaps this isthe reason it has taken such a longtime for scholars of her work to Took at wht his lor brought o light. Franklin's updated varierium edition of The Collected Poems with chronological and ther changes, continued to ignore the visual and acoustic aspecs ofthe manuscripts that ate particularly obvious in the late fragments and drafts For almost wenty sears few poets and fewer scholars afer secing the originals, have dared to Show us the ways in which what we thought we sw was not really what was there Thankflhy, the Ammerst College Libary has recently made digalzed {mages of the manuscripes in their posession available ro readers online. Yt it ths always been my dream to see some ofthese late manuscripts ia book, with ‘wanserptons,so the reader can lok, and touch, and turn fom ane to another Tals wish that someday they wil exhibited i a gallery situation because so ‘olen these singular object balance between poetry and visual art. am tiled ‘that Marta Werner, who hus been working onthe lt feagments and drafs for two decides has collaborated with the visual artis Jen Bern to produce this marvelous edition, For Proust, feapment isu morsel of time in es pare tte; t hovers between «present that is immediate anda pas that once ad been present. Can a mack ‘on puper surprise isl at she instant of writing? Dickinson ater work often emonstates that ican embrace contingency while capering a moment bore Points of contact by ca, touch, al sight. Pethaps she conceived of a sentence ‘or line as lawound in the relation of simple clementary components, yt open, ‘unbounded, and contingent. Viewing these “envelopes as visual objects, while a the same time reading her word for sound and sense, one needs seize upon Juck and acidents—slipsom paper lips. Dees form envelop everything? Can a thought eat itself sce? These writings are suggestive, not sate. How do ou grasp force in ts moxement in printed text? Is there any correct way to clear this entangled primal paper forest? Is there an unwritable ueknown poem that exceeds anything the techni of ‘writing an do? We will never know. Maybe this is her triumph, She has taken her secret the grave and will not give up the ghost To arrive as if by telepathic eecricity and connect without connectives. (Oa the 14th of May, 1882 she wrote to Judge Otis P- Lord after hearing of his sudden illness: "Would L write a telegram? I asked the Wires how you dd, and attached myname” In the ease of mere paper envelopes, indlfernt wo rsk and reverse she has broken the epistolary sel Tras taken years and years for this aspect of Emily Dickinson tobe made visible. When she was only sixteen she wrote, letter to her fiend Abish Root, “Let us sive together to part wth ime more reactant to watch the pinions ofthe fleeting moment util they ar dim i the distance & the new coming moment claims our attention” The Gorgeous Nothing claims or szrention with » new Emily Dickinson, This eition tell sa wok of a.Studies in Scale ‘An Introduction by Jen Bervin ‘The Gorseoms Noabing i an excerpt rom Emily Dickinson's mancserpt A 82 In choosing i as the te for this project, I was thinking of Dickinsow’s own feito for nari in tte: By homely | pfs and | hindered Words the ‘human | hear isold of nothing —Noching’ is | the force that renovates| the Worl! an her definition for: “the wilds | word we consign |to Language” ‘These “gorgeous nothings’ ate lw kind of nosing. These mantis are smetones til feted to “scrap within Dickinson schwlaship, Rather one might think of dhe as the sor of smal fibre" Diknson writes fn one cen ofthe large envelope intro, A 636 / 6363: “Excase | Eni and |her tors The North| Seti | of smal | ari busi implies | meh resides | yet” The wing i small i elation woth compton space, lotngin is frmamer. This poem exemplifies Dickinson relationship t sealeso pried ‘When se ay sal we often mean las. When Dickinson ss al she mean fabric Ams the Nott Su. The concept ofthe sem” emerges in ancient Gree pilosphy asthe ides of “the snallest hypothetical bod" Arche outer of the nineteenth century, moders stocnc chery ecats the stain chemical term In 1830 Emily Dias is born in Amherst, Massichoserts She i thitty-tve yeas old when the Civil War ‘ends and Johann Jost Loach firs ensures the ie fa molecule ofa. In the range of philosophic, scientific, nd popular definitions fr atm inthe OED, 3 das mote, se smallest medieval measute of ime, ‘the ewiakling of an eye and this pt, obsolete meaning roe “At home”? This enigmatic poet who signs ltrs “Tumbo" oF “Your Rascal” or “Your Scholar” is pie by physical sandards, but vast by all oxers. “My ltle Force cexlodes 1862, during a sretch when she is writing om average thre hundted poemsa year Emily Dickinson, one af the greatest American pocs, wrote approximately 1.800 distinct poems within 2.357 poem drafis and a eat 1150 eters and prose Fragments—a total of 3597 pieces before her death atthe age of fty-five” On the dhe wie to her future eltor Themes Wentworth Higginson in tsangular Hp of the envelope seal A 252, we find his fleeting message inscribed in lines wingowing dosnt a single word at the tp "Ta tis short Lite tha nly [merely laste an hour | How mach ~ bow | isle ~ is | within ou | powst might bes be described as epistolary vecything she wrote—poems eters, and deaf, in fascicles, on flies, individal sheets, envelopes, and fagments—nas predominantly composed on pai, rmachinesmade satonery* Preserve the backs of old lees to write upon," wrote “ylia Maa Calin The Frage! Hote, «book Dickinson's father obeaned for her mother when Emily was horn Tt opens “The rue economy af housekeeping is simpy the art of gathering up ll he fragment, so cat nothing is st. mean fragments of tine a8 wells meter Dickinson's envelope writing convey a sense of New England trie and her relationship to the larger household economy ‘of paper, bur they alo disclose piste spaces win that housed the line “ve should respect | he seals of |others "inscribed next co the gummed sel of AS? rewound Dickinson wring miter Dickinsons poems and correspondence atest othe considerable cate she svete the Hal act of opening lever These envelopes have been opened wel beyond the point needed wo merely extract eer they have been torn cut, ane! opened wut completely flat, rendered ino new shapes To understand how forcefully Dickinson is maniplaig the fum ofthe page self ake a simple houschold envelope and see how many of chess forms you ean re-create. You will quickly find that what loks simple simply is noe. Thee is not one instance hore of an envelope reopened ou in ite di-et shape Look with cae what ‘may look like a whole envelope i oly one face of i, slit open. Wheve do chose cuts fall and what shape do they peefigure when the spc x apened out? How re some cut edge 0 unpcilly lan? At Amherst Clog Libra, Margaret Dakin has aquired what is believed o be Emily Dickinson’ lp desk: its pained ‘wooden sufaceis positively riddled with mya fine cuts. Though the writen compotion may show considerable speed of thought and han, Dicknwon watnot blindly grabbing serps ina rsh of inspiration, ais most often supposed but rther reaching for wrking surfaces that were most Likely collected and eu in sedance, pope forthe velaciy of mind ‘When Dickinson approached her compositional space wo wrt, she was treading and sesponding to her matrals, angling the page to writin concert swith he light rule and lai lines inthe pape, using isernal surface divisions, such s overlapping planes of paper, eampes in «number of directional ek ‘Sometimes Dickinson's wring fills the space of the envelope like water ina ‘ese or funnels into the rangolar shape ofthe flap. Often she invents columns, typically two, to further divide the space, demonsteatig «propensity o break poem lines shorter and shore, She draws additonal ine segments or arcs to farther divide the compositional space. One would think that such a pace would {feel carved up, crammed, butit doesnt. The page fel bigger yet, a if there has ‘been anton of pace” “These manuscripts should be underscod a visusl productions” writes Susan Howe in The Bib! nassembling The Gonous Nothing we were guided by this direrve and specifically seleted work ha foregrounds Dickinson experiments with ual fovm and variants on the pags We have Favored this understanding in ove presentation of mame Fase, cach ie veprdaced wets, fro aed buck, accompanied by» transcripion. This gathering of manuscripts presets all the works composed on envelopes or postal wrappers that Marta Werner has been able ro trace to date The envelope writings are no sees or discrete Body of works. Each envelope hus is own comple constellation of afiiatons with ‘manuscript drafts one can trace through sources in the Directory (page 233, “These envelopes, panning the years 1864 through 1886, are culled from 1414 contemporaneous poem draft and 887 leer drafts ‘We often gauge «writer's intentions by her published work, & by work she sulynized fr publication during her lifetime, but Dickinson offers no such certainties. Dickinson rejected print publication of her poems. Ina ete Higginson, she explains." smile when you sugges that I delay to publish ~ that ‘being freiga to my though 2s Fiemament 10 Fi. Ife belonged 10 me, 1 could not cecape her ~ ifshe didnot, the longest day would past me on the chase = and the approbation f my Dog would fnsake me ~ then ~ My Batefoot Rank i beater" Ye she was not secretive abou she far tha she was writing poems she sent more than thee hundred! poems to recipients in leters—leters tha were fen indistnguishable fom poet: In Black Riders Te Vise Language of Modernism, Jerome McGann writes, "Dickinsoa's scripts cannot be read asi they werent cop” manuscripts, ot ss if they wore composed with an eve toward some site beyond thei handcrafted ‘extualconition” He continues, “Emily Dickinson poetry was ot writen for «print medium, eventhough twas writen an age of print. When we come to either wosk for hokish presentation, therefore, we mus accommodate out ‘typographical conventions her works, atthe other way around" Throughout the Ie nineteenth and twentieth centuries, editors have painstakingly brought ‘that work to the public fr the most part“the oer way around” Even in the ‘most tasted sebolaly editions, editors have restructured Dickinson's poems for ‘rat in opposition othe manuscripts, consieatl overriding ber line breaks, systematically deconstructing (rf reading editions, emitin) ber formal construction of variant word and punetation. Without manuserpts present, the reader cannot know how those editorial omisions and decisions have stfeced meaning Dickinson manuscript themes, ad the forms and experiments borne the most authentic register of her intentions. Of the 3.507 ‘oes, eters, drafts, and fragments Dickinson wrote, approximately third of ‘the manuscripts have been published in facsimile shus far” Te fist substancal view of thee appetred in 1981 in The Mamscript Books of Emily Diskin A Faxinle Eden, wo volun that inclide1,7 poem facsimiler—the “lcicles” forty discrete packets of poems Dickinson assembled ad ted with a stich 8 ‘well as unbound sets In 1996 Marta Werner published a new array of strikingly liferent wsonary he works—fory manuserints in En Disicine' Ope Flas Scones of Rein Surfies of Writing followed in 2007 by Rail Seater Eni Dickinon Late Fragments and Related Tes, 1870-1886, an extensive dial achive bringing forth one hundred and thiry-4wo mote manuscripts. Werner pioncei liplomatie transcriptions were the frst o accurately reflect Dickinson's ‘manuscripts typagrapically in book form, To representa Dickinson poet accurately in pit, to accommodate our typographic conventions io her work is quite a demanding task Dickinsons rmanipoltion of exal space is lati inthe manuscript: her spring headlong leterforms, ambiguous capitalization, gestural punctustion, scale shifs in varia contin ther,words extremely shor lines, and expansive spatial placement of words on the page trouble even visually minded transcription. These new transripcions were created with thea of a clan, legible tet 10 ac ay toot replacement forthe manuscripts IF our interpretation of Dickinson’ scrips ers, each ‘manuscripts pesent to make ts ven determinations andl ambiguities known. Dickinson's early manuscript are predominantly writen in ink; fom 1864 vo 1865 they are mostly in pencil, and thereafter both pen and pencil are used unl the year 1678, when the pen is almost ently discarded" All ofthe envelope ‘poems are written in pencil. Unlike a fountain pe, a pencil sub, especially ‘very small oe, its ney athe ready inthe pocket ofa dress. Ina eal eter twher brother, Ausi, she wrote “Tisis uly extempore, Austin—Thave no notes in my pocket ggesting shat there were typically jotings aecumlatng there Dickinson's one surviving dress has lange extra pocket onthe right side, whete her hand would fal easily a zest. The economy ofthe pocket i worth considering An envelope sa pocket An envelope refolis discreet privates even aftr it hat hoe sliced completely open. Emily Dickinson sent his minacule swovinch lng pencil (pictured below) ina letter to the Bowes, “fit had no penal | Would it try mine =" wryly nudging them to we Ir-vas enveloped in fete fd nto thinds horizontally pinned elowed at each sideNotes The Leeroy Dinos, vale by Thomas Hoban ih Theodora Ward (Cambri, MA The Belay Prev af Harard Unies Press, 1998, L138 ‘See Amber College manuscript A738 “Doo 08 kao you ae happiest we T ‘thal np confer— don so know that Ns the widest eon we oni | to Lanasg?| You doy | ow ll higs "Ame allege Digi Calesion Emily Dickinson Collin. ep /acécamerstel Mana H 81a Hoaghon Lay ter writen in pen oe ors Inchins rom Emily Dicknion Ssan Cilbr Dicks fr te ex 1880s ass ‘othr vet ofthe “Eacoe Em and ber Atoms |The ‘North |S” of teal abt ene eh Let, LT Dickinson wuld hive bee ala with cei deepmess hoch Mount lj Academy and wo an vil reader of cespapers periodicals and entre Fo snes his Jack L Capps Ely Dion ean 1836-1886 Cambridge, MAY Taran University Pea 1966) A number of writer Dickinon read are sige wor, ‘notably George Eli and Raj Waldo Enroe. Dickoton asthe werd tor tein. ves per: PT Pa, P13, POO, POS, PSS PHN, PITS PLD, 12 and P1239 (898 “Rik nthe Ha hat lth Ta, Po 1998. ‘Th Ono Engh Dacor, 2nd Oars Oxon University Pres 189). Leten L7L “The owns bso he tal mamber af poe drained in oem 1986. The ally leer an poe fgets om Lat oti the marber faa ees ahead the niece cet estom af uring comespndene. ‘Se Ralph Fanlis The Eon Ely Dicom A Reson Mado, WL ‘aise of Wiconin Pe, 167) and The Manne Bato Ey Dickinan (Camis, MA Bena Pe of Harvard Uninersty Pre, 198, Soy Ley ed, The Yrs Hans of Dick vol. (New Haven CT Ye ‘aivrsiy ret, 960, 16 La Masa Chil, The Fg Hose 2d ed Boson MA, sae Mende, 1880), The endency in Dicks ae manures isouard larger pce becoeen eter and ‘ord shor ea ejanbed les hat ampli spend alee more frauen nctntion mas, er mare on hse The Dison Camper Yr Granary ook, 210, ‘Suan How, “Tet Planet nd Genero ofthe Hear Ely Dickinson the logic Sumptuny Vie? The Binh.mak Unetig he Wien i merc istry (Shdleowa, CE Wesleyan Unversity Press, 1998, Ml ea, Pans 1958 1, Late 1268 1. Jerine NeGunn, Blac Rider The Vale Lent Madero Princeton, N} Princeton ‘Unie Pres, 1995, 36 15, See alo Fell Langswoth dy The Meet Ely ition Amber, MA Arbere Clee Pres, 1986 a En Dick Later (Amer, MA: Oliphant Pres, Fred ofthe Amber College Library 1992) 16, Th assign eer reader peeping o cms whi eng the ‘enact csi Century Gethic bande nedwith,anserileveierms sv iotended ap txalaton tan imiteo) of ke sep Dicer upper and lower lverfom puttin and markings at expensive ad open ome rexlags The tpopraphic interpretation refles or schol enagemen ich bee serial acice btn a0 way laine defines given such mbites The sie ofthe nscrpions—50 percent lative the envelopes ur bf hat Dicks nas s the pinary space rea er wark ands the highest ube enall questions. Though itis allyl trees al he pl dsm of Dicks hanno documents, temps were me ang InDesign) reflec bem ‘trough placement eign, pacing sd ype ste within the line deavng ot ‘heemelpe Uma s or hope skp he ranterions eile ple and pezare bak omnd she “high Orgy” of Diino’ mamas 1, See Thoda Wards-Chartertis ofthe Handing a Po 199 Se sso ‘Theodora Watds Study of the Handi” Bi Dicker Leet Dread Me ait Gir Holand Cambie, MA: Blan Pes of Harvard Uaicrsy Pre, 1951, 1s, Liter Ls 18, Poon 955, BDL Poo 1996, ISS. The rm pn pictured onthe onthe Viel Indep. 225 cgay pine thi er wth the pence. 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OE Pt mers regh BrremPGer Ge aa La ene an cing eaeee Aah ne mm - ger au THO Fmes ae mets eee fie? eed ne LBM ave _ Char 2 Friena - * otirs Co eralg We - Cay - aig a rahnever aw bar inten, abut tere twee ote ingenies ong ose oy mare wes he only Tmpeaseton ana, eator trey ‘of celoraes frien eon tre tent wrote ner = scoring resty =VvItineraries of Escape Emily Dickinson's Envelope Poems Marta Werner 1 “The Wheels of Birds” “Collections? write the editors of Wale Benim Arce, unlock themselves ‘once a single pce i brought to voce In the heginning ws the exemplary abject, which opens up the way ro thought asi by ise Groups of documents [arise from i]! Among Enily Dickinson’ lst writings is such an exemplary manscep entiied solely by its aalog number, A 821, ic constvtes a hind of ext text It ay have bee cotsponed in afew states, o even a few seconds in the early spring oF 1885, since oe line ofthe text reappears, slighly altered, in three fair copy drafts of leer from Dickinson ro Helen Hunt Jackson, composed around ‘March ofthat yar bt apparently never competed oF male In Thomas H Johsson and Theodora Wars The Levers of Ely Dichinon, the envelopepoem i annexed to these drafts a a footnote Is provenance, however, swell asthe ofits composiin, remains unconfined, fund it by acide inthe Amherst College Library, when itl rose) out ofan ache envelope If had not held i igh in my hands, I would never have suspected the manner in which i was assembled Although its Brevity and ‘immediacy place tous the each of conventional lssificavons, it beats a stking affinity to the genre David Porter names “small, rickets ofininudes” Look at it here flving on the pape, vying with it Taxonomy of Paper Wings [A821 is a sudden collage made of two sections of envelope. ‘The principles of is constuction are economical even austere The larger section ofthe collage isthe inside ofthe back ofan envelope, the addres face ‘of which has been torn or cutaway, One vertical crease bisects the document, turning the halved envelope into a simple diprych that resembles the hinged ‘wings of the bid the holgrap is becoming lily, the wings appeat wo havebeen folded, perhaps even pinned closed est, the manoscrpc has pet to be ‘eansformed ito a ally ling gute. Another section of text is composed on sn unfolded triangular corner ofan envelope sesh thas been dexignaced by the catslogee ‘A 821a" A singl suaight pin, in pce when [est fod the bt since removed, originally mped—a verb from the vocabulary of| falconry, when feathers are rafied ino a binds wing to reste ot improve powers of lighe—the collage elements together while als spreading open the larger envelope fragmento evel the hidden visual rhyme of wings and a blurred ressage about a sudden atmosphere convergence ‘On the rightwing th lines "Afternoon and | the West and | the gorgeous | nothings | which compose | the | sunset | keep lane upward int the west. ‘On the lef wing, the Tine “Clogged | only with | Music, like the Wheel of Birds” slan diagonally upward ito the east ‘On the smaller, pinned wing, writing rushes beyond the tear or terminus ‘where the visible meets the invisible in “thee high | Appoint | ment” The singing of binds matks—some even belive causes—both the break and the lose of day If we red fom Ife right across the contours ofthe open wings, A821 ppearsto record the moment when da ils no night. Yer the gramar— _yntes-of wings the grammar of discontinuity. The slight variations in he handwriting on opposing wings suggest tha the texts they carey wer composed on different occasions moreover, on each wing, wrting—insribed by Velociy— rushes in opposite directions. To access the ext and to answer the question of where we have artived, we mist enter into a volitional reltonship withthe feagment, turning i point by pont, like «compass or pinwhee!—like the wees ofthough. 360 degrees. As we rate A $2, orienting and disorienting stonce, day and night—each « whir of words—almost collide inthe missing spaces just, ‘beyond the light scams showing the ifuraton in the envelope, and then fly apart synesthesia of sigh and sound. Gravity Fields “Joy |and Gravitation | have their own | ‘The instantaneous ranslation from one condition ino anathes cone, defines the experience of Dickinson's ate ecstatic writings. A821 / 21a textual satus a “Tuite” of “exile is elated not only ot extra generie quality ‘but alot it migration between ane among texts and, inal, ots capacity 19 survive outside ll the ters that bre sek it Be within the inrertces of the leterdefs that at frst seem to repaiate and maser the ie raiment, A 821 marks the place where she amanuensis comes, slipping berwoen reper ina woe at once inmediate and alien, uring prose buleiauo poetry. Initially though, the strange vibration of A 821 (82a comes fom costing of wites between Helen Hunt Jackson’ 3 February 1885, leter to Dickinson containing news of her prolonged sufering from a broken leg and Dickinson belated response in March ofthe same year radically diferent Sanca Monica | Cal. By the Sea | Feb, 3 1885 (My dear Miss Dickinson, ‘Thank you heartily forthe fan. I ispaetc in is smallness ~ poor souls —how did they come to think of making such tiny ones. — I hall ‘wear it sometines, lke a leaf on my breast ~ ‘Your le found me in Los Angeles, where Thave bees fr two months & isle more ~ Suoning myseland tying to get on my feet — | had ope by tis ime to be abe to go without crutches, and venture to New York, forthe remainder ofthe winter — but lam disappointed. Sof asthe broken legis concerned, I could walle wth a cane now: but ‘he whole leg having been badly stained by doing double duty long is lbcinate sou geting to work again, is wey lame and sre Lam aftaid badly given out ~s0 that will ake months for ito recover = T diske this exceedingly; ~ but dare not grumble lest a worse ching befall me & ‘fT did grumble | should deserve i, —for am absolutely well ~ drive the whole of every afiernoon in an open carriage on roads whete lark sing & flowers ate in loom: ean do everyting l ever could ~ except walk! ~