"Her breast is fit for pearls,"
< transcription 1, transcription 2 >
Notes
A 651 | JP 84 | FP 121 | OMC 50 | 1850s | Pencil
watermark/embossed: Fine Note Paper | 16.75 X 10.5 cm
Poem written in Emily's rough-draft hand. "Sue" was carefully erased from the verso. In Mabel Loomis Todd's 1894 edition of Letters, she placed this poem in the Samuel Bowles correspondence, suggesting that Emily had sent "Her breast is fit for pearls" to Samuel in honor of his wife, Mary. Loomis Todd may well have been attempting to make Emily's correspondence with Mary Bowles look more extensive, since Dickinson wrote the Bowles few joint letters. By falsely attributing the poem, Loomis Todd accomplished two objectives: she disguised a love poem to Susan, and she made Emily's correspondence to Bowles (with whom she is said to have been in love) appear more inclusive of his wife.
