Publication – is the Auction
Of the Mind of Man –
Poverty – be justifying
For so foul a thing

Possibly – but We – would rather
From Our Garret go
White – unto the White Creator –
Than invest – Our Snow –

Thought belong to Him who gave it –
Then – to Him Who bear
It’s Corporeal illustration – sell
The Royal Air –

In the Parcel – Be the Merchant
Of the Heavenly Grace –
But reduce no Human Spirit
To Disgrace of Price –

(Dickinson 1686)

We get a sense of Emily Dickinson’s view on priorities in writing: writing to sell versus writing to be in touch with the soul and for artistic purposes. She thinks writing for the mass market is “foul”, which is pretty consistent with the fact that she tent to keep most of her poems to herself, having a sense of reverence for her privacy so that she could be as authentic as possible. However, she also acknowledges that not everyone is in a position to not write for a living – as far as I know, her family was fairly well off so I don’t think she struggled financially, which gave her the privilege of being a writer unburdened by the thought of how well her texts would sell.

It seems here she describes herself being in a white gown and living in the attic:

“From Our Garret go
White – unto the White Creator -“

…which is interesting because in class on Tuesday we did talk about this image of her that some people held, which we were cautioned to interpret with “a huge grain of salt” (Prof. Oerlemans). Could this piece be the source of that speculation?