A 878: etext transcription

This fragment, shifting between prose and verse, is one of a small number of apparently autobiographical texts found among Dickinson's late papers after her death. It may have been destined for incorporation into a longer composition, possibly a letter, or an extended autobiographical meditation either never composed or long since lost. Dickinson appears to have revised the draft both as she wrote, adding the variant "wading" for the part-word "grop" ("groping"?), and writing "more for," immediately after canceling "for," and later, after completing a preliminary draft, when she probably canceled the lines, "now mother | and Card | inal flower | are parts | of a | closed | world -." The lines on A 878a appear to complete the text on A 878. For a different interpretation of textual boundaries, see T. H. Johnson, Letters (1958), PF 117, PF 71, respectively. Traces of an unidentified handwriting appear along the bottom edge of A 878a.