This fair-copy letter-draft, composed around 1885 (THJ), was found among Dickinson's papers after her death; the identity of the addressee is unknown. For a related fragment, see A 848 (about 1885 [THJ]). The fragment may be a draft of a passage in the letter; or, it may be an autonomous text, incorporated in the letter because of its momentary aptness.

One editorial notation is penciled on A 847: upper right, MTB? 411. The notation indicates that the text—or a version of it—was published in Letters (1931), 411–12.