One thing about Emily Dickinson: she knew how to get into people’s heads! I happen to believe that she completely foresaw the fame that would accrue to her after her death and had everything all planned out. Certainly today she’s bigger than ever — which is not exactly the case with her contemporaries Sidney Lanier, Posey Fellows, and Clement Longworth Washington!
For many years the image on the left below was thought to be the only photograph of Emily Dickinson. But as interest in the the Belle of Amherst grows new photos are beginning to surface. The picture on the right, for instance, belongs to the heirs of Eleanor Means Shufflemaster — a friend of Emily’s during her time at Mount Holyoke and her teammate in freshman field hockey. Both these pictures are believed to have been taken during winter of 1847 — and possibly even on the same day. Why the hell not?
In an unpublished autobiography recently made public by her descendants, Eleanor Means Shufflemaster sheds light on "the real Emily" — a girl perhaps better represented in the newly revealed photo than in the well-known formally posed representation.
"Emily was a fucking wild woman!" Eleanor writes, "but she loved to put people on and dress up like Little Bo Peep and bat her eyelashes and stuff. During the day she would act really shy but at night we’d stay up all night in the dorm and Emily would be just totally different and running around in her bra and chain smoking and throwing water balloons out the windows. She was an unbelievable mimic! We had this English professor named E. Compton Buzzard — that was actually his name! — and Emily could imitate him just perfectly. Oh my God it was so hilarious! I was literally rolling on the floor!"
Here the top photo is quite a recent find, and it has a fascinating story. It was actually sold on ebay! You can read about it here: http://www.unc.edu/~gura/dickinson/index.html On the back of this photo is written, "Emily Dickinson dec 1886." And Emily did indeed die in 1886! Plus, it turns out the photo is actually a copy of one taken much earlier. The history of this picture a real treasure hunt that can bring you many delightful hours.
The lower photo is striking similar in many respects — and there’s also some writing on the back of this one: To comprehend a nectar requires sorest need. This of course is a quote from one of Emily’s poems. In fact, it’s from one of the few poems published in her lifetime. Is the quote in some way connected to the photo of the poet, if indeed it is the poet? What exactly is the connection? And what the hell does that line mean, anyway? I have my opinion. What do you think?