Catherine “Kate” Scott Turner (1831-1917)
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
Interestingly, scholars have noticed that Emily’s dress seems to be out of date for the time period when this daguerreotype was taken. But this seems to make sense in light of what she wrote in a letter to her friend, Abiah Palmer Root (1830-1915): “I’m so old fashioned, Darling, that all your friends would stare.”
The following poem was included in a letter Emily wrote to Kate, about 1859. In the letter Emily noted: “All we are strangers, dear. The world is not acquainted with us because we are not acquainted with her.”
There are two Ripenings
One of sight –
Whose forces spheric wind,
Until the velvet product
Drops spicy to the Ground,
A Homelier Maturing,
A process in the Burr
That teeth of Frosts alone Disclose
On far October air.
Emelie.
~ Emily Dickinson
(Letters of Emily Dickinson)
(December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886)
We turn not older with years, but newer every day.
~ Emily Dickinson
(Letters of Emily Dickinson)
Happy Birthday, Emily!