One of several similar:
“Mr. Derbyshire—While I’m sure some effete molly-coddle bemoaning the masculinity of ‘wrestling’ is a plausible explanation for the textual discrepancies you found in Dickinson, it’s not necessarily the cause. Dickinson’s poetry is famous for the variations that occur within different editions. The problem is widespread enough that most citations of her poetry are referenced like translated poetry–at least in my experience. So why it’s normally reasonable to assume some philistine tampered with the language in instances like the one you describe, it’s a tough case to make when Dickinson is involved.”
[Derb] Hmph. I say that these particular variations have the greasy thumb-prints of the PC police all over them. To prove me wrong, show me the wording of the poem as Nellie brought it home in some printed edition prior to the onset of the PC- shchina circa 1980.






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