Going to Him! Happy letter!
Tell Him —
Tell Him the page I didn’t write —
Tell Him — I only said the Syntax —
And left the Verb and the pronoun out —
Tell Him just how the fingers hurried —
Then — how they waded — slow — slow —
And then you wished you had eyes in your pages —
So you could see what moved them so —

Tell Him — it wasn’t a Practised Writer —
You guessed — from the way the sentence toiled —
You could hear the Bodice tug, behind you —
As if it held but the might of a child —
You almost pitied it — you — it worked so —
Tell Him — no — you may quibble there —
For it would split His Heart, to know it —
And then you and I, were silenter.

Tell Him — Night finished — before we finished —
And the Old Clock kept neighing “Day”!
And you — got sleepy — and begged to be ended —
What could it hinder so — to say?
Tell Him — just how she sealed you — Cautious!
But — if He ask where you are hid
Until tomorrow — Happy letter!
Gesture Coquette — and shake your Head!

Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem Going to Him! Happy letter!

5 Comments

  1. helen says:

    it’s his move, of course, so she must be fantasizing about his reciprocating.

  2. gabse says:

    hey.. i think the interpretation that she is writing to the one she loves, or actually wanting to write, may be right, but i quite don’t understand why she wrote a relatet poem, that speaks of HER?
    i don’t know why they left it out anyway (maybe i just oversaw it?), here it is:

    Going- to- Her!
    Happy- Letter!
    Tell Her-
    Tell Her- the page i never wrote!
    Tell Her, I only said- te Syntax-
    And left the Verb and Pronoun- out!
    Tell her just how the fingers- hurried-
    Then- how they- stammered- slow- slow-
    And then- you wished you had eyes- in your pages-
    So you could see- what moved- them so-

    Tell her- it wasn’t a practised writer-
    You guessed-
    From the way the sentence- toiled-
    You could hear the Bodice- tug- behind you-
    As if it held but the might of a child!
    You almost pitied- it- you- it worked so-
    Tell her- no- you may quibble- there-
    For it would split Her Heart- to know it-
    And then- you and I- were silenter!

    Tell her- Day- finished- before we- finished
    And the old Clock kept neighing- ”Day”!
    And you- got sleepy- and begged to be ended-
    What could it- hinder so- to say?
    Tell her- just how she sealed- you- Cautious!
    But if she ask ”where are you hid”- until the evening-
    Ah! Be bashful!
    Gesture Coquette-
    And shake your head!

    That’s it. I think if you know this one, too, it is in way much easier to interpret it because you can compare, but it also brings a lot of new questions with it..:D

  3. Javi says:

    the person in this poem is talking to the actual letter that she wrote… she starts off with going to him! happy letter! she tells the letter to tell the dude whos getting what she couldnt or didnt dare to write… that she was confused… emily dickinson is always insecure in this poem due to that she uses a lot of dashes because she cant find the words… and she didnt even mail this letter, when she asks, but is he ask you where you are hid, until tomorrow happy letter.. that reffers to if the guy that “gets” it ask ok now where is the actual letter? where is it hid? it means he didnt get it therefore she didnt send it!… thats what i think anyway… =)

  4. Dani says:

    Is she trying to tell him that she loves him? And somehow she couldn’t seem to find the words until just now? This is very different then Emily Dickenson’s many other poems!

  5. Bridgette says:

    Does anyone understand what is going on in this poem? I am so confused on what to think… Is the writer a she? and who ever it is, is it talking to the letter? And also, at the end, why is it said and if he asks don’t say where you are hid… what’s that all about?

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