She completes the quotation, “Instead of getting to heaven at last . . .”
Emily Dickinson
Today, December 10,
is the birthday of a poet who didn’t like cats but did write,
Having been read
Recovered detail in the 1847 daguerreotype of Emily Dickinson
As of 2019, only one photograph of Emily Dickinson has been fully authenticated: a daguerreotype taken in 1847, when Dickinson was sixteen years old. It is now in the possession of Amherst College, and this is the reproduction that Amherst makes available online.
As you see, it isn’t a very satisfactory representation. Its lighting is washed out and the image of the poet’s face is affected by motion blur. However, artificial-intelligence software is now making it possible for image processors like Photoshop to recover lost pixels and latent details, so here’s a refined view prepared with Topaz Studios’ AI Clear and Sharpen AI in stabilize mode.
Interior with Miss Dickinson
Quantitative demo: Dickinson > Poe
The other day I posted this portrait to my Tumblr over a caption by Emily Dickinson: “I see thee better in the dark.”
Instantly the likes and reblogs began pouring in, and by the time the flood let up there were 255 of them.
Last night I posted this portrait over a caption by Edgar Allan Poe: “How statue-like I see thee stand, / The agate lamp within thy hand!”
Total number of likes and reblogs as of late this morning: 2.
I see thee better in the dark
