NOTES

Emily wrote this letter, scholars believe, in September 1882, a year of many personal worries and international events. Charles Wadworth died, and she wrote to Higginson, "My closest earthly friend died in April." Two other close friends--Judge Lord and Higginson--were seriously ill, though these men recovered. Emily's mother died in November. For events in Egypt, see annotations below.

Arabi: A reference to the nationalist Egyption leader, Colonel Ahmad Urabi who resisted European intervention after Ismail (Khedive) was deposed by the Ottoman sultan who had given him the title khedive (Arabit for king). Britain burned and occupied Alexandria in July 1882, and in August invaded the Suez Canal Zone. Here, Urabi was captured. He was tried, sentenced to death, but then banished to Ceylon. The British army remained and its influence continued until 1956.

Longfellow: A widely popular poet and significant figure in the literary world of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dickinson wrote to Susan of Longfellow thirty years earlier when she discovered a volume of his poetry in the local bookstore: "Longfellow's 'golden Legend' has come to town and may be seen in state on Mr. Adams' bookshelves. It always makes me think of "Pegasus in the pound' . . . " Longfellow died March 24, 1882 in Cambridge, and his death occasioned many eloquent obituaries in the magazines of the day by his literary friends. In this later letter/poem, she refers to Longfellow's "The Day is Done," quoting his last lines as her last lines. The first two lines of Lonfellow's final stanza read: "And the night shall be filled with music,/ And the cares, that infest the day,/ Shall fold . . . "

Khedive: The title given to the viceroy (Ismail Pasha) of Egypt in 1867 by the Turkish government. "1867 Times 24 May: At a council of the Turkish Cabinet, held on the 14th inst., the title to be granted to the Pasha of Egypt was at length definitely settled. His Highness is to be called Khedive, which is regarded as the Arabic equivalent of King" ( Oxford English Dictionary 1989, on-line edition).