A 842: etext transcription

This is one of a number of late manuscripts in which opposite sides of the paper constitute separate textual spaces. The brief fragment on the inside of the envelope was composed after the envelope was cut apart; the text on the torn face of the envelope—a partial address to Otis P. Lord—may have been preserved only because Dickinson used the reverse side to jot down the rough-copy fragment. Although unlikely, it is possible that Dickinson associated Lord with secrecy, "seals," and that a more than material relation exists between the texts. Dickinson's final intentions toward the fragment remain unknown. It may have been destined for incorporation into a poem, a letter, or a longer pensée; it may be an experiment in aphoristic form. After jotting down the fragment, Dickinson wrote "- which," probably a variant for "that -," sideways along the right edge of the envelope.