艾蜜莉用字簡單，組合奇異，多數的詩難以理解而被忽略，流通在外的少數讀來也不完全通順，僅管如此，世界已視她為偉大詩人，這現象本身異常奇妙。解讀她所有的謎語是一項艱巨挑戰，找到答案有時接近不可能的任務。
艾蜜莉．狄金森(Emily Dickinson,1830–86)出生於美國麻州安默斯特，一個道德規範嚴謹的清教徒地區。她終生未婚，三十歲左右隱居只穿白衣。關於她的傳言有男情人、女情人、精神疾病、死亡傾向等，她真正的生命藏在詩裡，破解她的謎語可以證實與否定某些說法，她的一生不比一般人平淡。
這些謎語娛樂她自己也掩護一本祕密日記，她獨特的文字邏輯將展現於解讀過程，祕密本身或許已不重要。她沒有精神問題，恰好相反，她理性堅持，沒有灰暗思想，沒有自殺念頭，她隱居是為了父親從政的名聲而犧牲。她可愛幽默(292, 詩的編號)，樂觀浪漫(288)，體諒黃種移民(196)，勇敢面對一切包括死亡(285)，探索她的文字世界是件愉快的事。
短謎語
1. 緞藍亭鳥 (I pay in satin cash)
2. 紫閃蛺蝶 (Purple is fashionable twice)
3. 銀魚 (An everywhere of silver)
4. 潛鳥 (Is it too late to touch you)
5. 情侶鸚鵡 (But little carmine hath her face)
6. 鈴鳥 (How still the bells in steeples stand)
7. 我是鷹 (Nor mountain hinder me)
8. 吟遊的琴鳥 (Touch lightly nature's sweet guitar)
9. 太陽鳥 (Presentiment is that long shadow)
10. 玫瑰切葉蜂 (A sepal petal and a thorn)
11. 木豹蛾 (With thee in the desert)
12. 蛛網 (By such and such an offering)
13. 杜鵑蜂 (Of nature I shall have enough)
14. 東印度斑蝥 (My eye is fuller than my vase)
15. 水手甲蟲 (Where ships of purple gently toss)
16. 女王蜂 (Least bee that brew)
17. 刺尾魚 (Surgeons must be very careful)
18. 鮭魚 (Betrothed to righteousness might be)
19. 幼鮭 (Whose pink career may have a close)
20. 港海豹 (An hour is a sea)
21. 虹鱒 (We shall find the cube of the rainbow)
22. 採珍珠 (My garden like the beach)
23. 珍珠量具 (It's such a little thing to weep)
24. 桑恩與樂芙 (Love reckons by itself alone)
25. 兩隻小貓 (When Katie walks, this simple pair)
26. 蛇 (Their dappled importunity)
27. 南崗羊 (How soft his prison is)
28. 尖鼠 (Climbing to reach the costly hearts)
29. 鳥糞 (Too happy time dissolves itself)
30. 心櫻桃樹 (Unto a broken heart)
31. 紅花草 (Where roses would not dare to go)
32. 山楂 (The stem of a departed flower)
33. 芸香 (So gay a flower)
34. 恩典藥草 (My season's furthest flower)
35. 無眼豆 (Forbidden fruit a flavor has)
36. 黑眼蘇珊 (To own a Susan of my own)
37. 心木 (To break so vast a heart)
38. 月見草 (Soft as the massacre of suns)
39. 慧星 (The face we choose to miss)
40. 陽光蕨 (The sun and fog contested)
41. 蘑菇 (Drab habitation of whom)
42. 蜘蛛花 (The fairest home I ever knew)
43. 薑果(Be mine the doom)
44. 愛藤 (We outgrow love, like other things)
45. 豬殃殃 (The robin for the crumb)
46. 發芽 (A death blow is a life blow to some)
47. 草原熱 (To make a prairie)
48. 高山金雀花 (The juggler's hat her country is)
49. 沼澤忍冬 (To him who keeps an orchis' heart)
50. 辛辣驚奇 (Surprise is like a thrilling pungent)
51. 痛苦的麵包 (How well I knew her not)
52. 薄薑餅 (Apology for her)
53. 心蛋糕 (My heart upon a little plate)
54. 篩網麵包 (The riddle we can guess)
55. 甜點 (I stole them from a bee)
56. 甜點情人 (Lest they should come is all my fear)
57. 晒菸葉 (The work of her that went)
58. 劣酒 (They might not need me, yet they might)
59. 威士忌廣告 (Above oblivion's tide there is a pier)
60. 私釀威士忌 (By chivalries as tiny)
61. 奧菲莉亞 (Could I do more for thee)
62. 冬天的故事 (Of the heart that goes in)
63. 雅典的泰門 (Take all away from me)
64. 泰門的祕密 (Lad of Athens, faithful be)
65. 柯蒂莉亞 (If blame be my side forfeit me)
66. 李爾王 (The flake the wind exasperate)
67. 時間倒轉 (The clock strikes one)
68. 茱麗葉 (The day she goes)
69. 奧賽羅的詛咒 (It stole along so stealthy)
70. 馬克白 (There comes a warning like a spy)
71. 馬克白的幻象 (Trust adjusts her peradventure)
72. 安東尼的演說 (Confirming all who analyze)
73. 浮士德的一小時 (Some wretched creature)
74. 魔鬼管家 (Back from the cordial grave)
75. 悲慘世界 (Not one by heaven defrauded stay)
76. 聖潔的悲哀 (The sweets of pillage, can be known)
77. 珂賽特 (Tried always and condemned by thee)
78. 巴黎聖母院 (His cheek is his biographer)
79. 無望的復活 (Now I lay thee down to sleep)
80. 人面巨石 (Go thy great way)
81. 奧羅拉．李 (Aurora is the effort)
82. 小氣財神 (No passenger was known to flee)
83. 科學怪人 (Parting with thee reluctantly)
84. 羽毛頭 (Few, yet enough)
85. 隱形唱詩班 (The immortality she gave)
86. 李伯大夢 (He went by sleep that drowsy route)
87. 梭羅 (Gathered into the earth)
88. 紅字 (To his simplicity)
89. 丹尼爾．迪隆達 (The treason of an accent)
90. 亞當．畢德 (Paradise is of the option)
91. 夏洛蒂．勃朗特 (She rose as high as his occasion)
92. 圓桌騎士 (Circumference thou bride of awe)
93. 阿爾戈號 (Finite to fail but infinite to venture)
94. 邱比特與報童 (How good his lava bed)
95. 邱比特與耶穌 (Some arrows slay)
96. 輕率的邱比特 (How fleet, how indiscreet an one)
97. 太陽神的馬車 (The sun in reining to the west)
98. 尋找天堂 (Who has not found the heaven below)
99. 上帝的特權 (To their apartment deep)
100. 聖經 (By homely gifts and hindered words)
101. 約伯的考驗 (Arrows enamored of his heart)
102. 摩西的誕生 (A sloop of amber slips away)
103. 摩西的懲罰 (Ourselves we do inter)
104. 大遷徙 (From his slim palace in the dust)
105. 摩西之死 (Pass to thy rendezvous of light)
106. 摩門教 (Candor my tepid friend)
107. 歷史劇 (Witchcraft was hung, in history)
108. 神示 (Of their peculiar light)
109. 十字軍 (Each that we lose takes part of us)
110. 贖罪券 (Oh what a grace is this)
111. 最後審判日 (As subtle as tomorrow)
112. 奮興布道 (Witchcraft has not a pedigree)
113. 所多瑪 (We never know we go)
114. 諸靈節 (The vastest earthly day)
115. 諸靈與諸聖 (These fevered days to take them)
116. 逾越節 (The longest day that God appoints)
117. 虛度光陰 (Within that little hive)
118. 創世紀實驗 (Experiment escorts us last)
119. 孌童 (Brother of ingots)
120. 教士與奴工 (All men for honor hardest work)
121. 啄木鳥教士 (His bill an augur is)
122. 教堂的極限 (When bells stop ringing)
123. 裝扮認同 (The grace myself might not obtain)
124. 傷心小棧 (Not sickness stains the brave)
125. 彈珠軌道 (Best gains must have the losses' test)
126. 輪盤賭 (Ideals are the fairy oil)
127. 抽木條遊戲 (Falsehood of thee)
128. 猜手指的愛 (Love is done when Love's begun)
129. 猜手指謎語 (That love is all there is)
130. 家園法案 (Those final creatures)
131. 法官 (Sometimes with the heart)
132. 獨立建國 (The hills in purple syllables)
133. 分裂者 (The hills erect their purple heads)
134. 猜謎語 (The ecstasy to guess)
135. 長翼鉸鏈 (Speech is a prank of parliament)
136. 星室法庭 (Of glory not a beam is left)
137. 巡迴法庭 (No matter where the saints abide)
138. 檢察官 (Her sovereign people)
139. 保護費 (These strangers in a foreign world)
140. 林肯之死 (The first we knew of him was death)
141. 日落法 (Sunset that screens, reveals)
142. 魔術師 (Best witchcraft is geometry)
143. 政客乞丐 (The beggar at the door for fame)
144. 淚水與口水 (Declaiming waters none may dread)
145. 結婚證書 (The good will of a flower)
146. 非凡考驗 (Not what we did, shall be the test)
147. 南北戰爭 (That distance was between us)
148. 無理的無理數 (Not so the infinite relations below)
149. 數學機率 (What I can do I will)
150. 皺紋 (Estranged from beauty none can be)
151. 日心說 (Had I not seen the sun)
152. 原子論 (A world made penniless)
153. 日蝕 (Morning, that comes but once)
154. 晨星與夜星 (Go traveling with us)
155. 極光與曙光 (Morning is due to all)
156. 天文望遠鏡 (Lest this be heaven indeed)
157. 極夜 (These are the days that reindeer love)
158. 極晝 (White as an Indian pipe)
159. 子夜太陽 (To whom the mornings)
160. 神學學生 (Portraits are to daily faces)
161. 動物標本 (That such have died enable us)
162. 信仰治療 (Faith is a fine invention)
163. 白內障 (The thought beneath so slight a film)
164. 針眼 (Look back on time, with kindly eyes)
165. 牙疼的貓 (When Etna basks and purrs)
166. 催眠 (Absence disembodies so does death)
167. 嘔吐 (Could I then shut the door)
168. 潔癖 (All things swept sole away)
169. 偷窺狂 (The suburbs of a secret)
170. 母親 (Birthday of but a single pang)
171. 子宮 (Of life to own)
172. 不孕 (Sweet hours have perished here)
173. 青春期 (Winter under cultivation)
174. 輕浮的人 (Defrauded I a butterfly)
175. 私生子投資 (The incidents of love)
176. 三圍 (Our own possessions though our own)
177. 性愛 (Love is anterior to life)
178. 文字自由 (No prisoner be)
179. 放租者 (A letter is a joy of earth)
180. 孩子逃犯 (Of whom so dear)
181. 字的掠奪 (A flower will not trouble her)
182. 幼稚作品 (Fame's boys and girls)
183. 英雄詩體 (The gleam of an heroic act)
184. 詩的棱鏡 (In other motes)
185. 詩歌課 (To see the summer sky)
186. 學校 (Here where the daisies fit my head)
187. 花音 (Warm in her hand these accents lie)
188. 謎詩國度 (Between my country and the others)
189. 創作者 (My maker let me be)
190. 空言者 (How slow the wind)
191. 上帝的訊息 (I sued the news yet feared the news)
192. 投稿 (Silence is all we dread)
193. 股市 (We lose because we win)
194. 馬鈴薯 (They ask but our delight)
195. 德國移民 (Many cross the Rhine)
196. 黃種移民 (Of yellow was the outer sky)
197. 必然的母親 (If nature smiles the mother must)
198. 凱圖的女兒 (Great Caesar! Condescend)
199. 撕裂者 (Least rivers docile to some sea)
200. 一天的工作 (Morning is the place for dew)
201. 布魯克農場 (The well upon the brook)
202. 謠言 (If what we could)
203. 等待與服侍 (To wait an hour is long)
204. 謎語啟示 (Not revelation 'tis that waits)
205. 彩虹盡頭 (Fame is the tint that scholars leave)
206. 作者之死 (A word is dead when it is said)
207. 髒衣 (They have a little odor)
208. 甜言蜜語 (I could not drink it, Sweet)
209. 定論者 (Soto! Explore thyself!)
210. 平安夜 (Peace is a fiction of our faith)
211. 掩飾技巧 (Her grace is all she has)
212. 瓶飾 (I hide myself within my flower)
213. 上帝與情人 (The definition of beauty is)
214. 耶穌圖像 (The stimulus, beyond the grave)
215. 美麗傻女孩 (Partake as doth the bee)
216. 尋寶者 (How fortunate the grave)
217. 雜物間 ('Twas my one glory)
218. 地震 (There is no silence in the earth)
219. 奇蹟劇 (To die without the dying)
220. 招魂術 (It was not saint)
221. 莎士比亞 (Were it but me that gained the hight)
222. 偽善者 (Herein a blossom lies)
223. 種子 (To help our bleaker parts)
224. 乏味戲劇 (As willing lid o'er weary eye)
225. 燈塔 (In thy long paradise of light)
226. 地洞寓言 (Time does go on)
227. 夢魘 (Within thy grave)
228. 中庸 (Count not that far that can be had)
229. 冷漠距離 (Distance is not the realm of fox)
230. 廢除冷漠 (Did we abolish frost)
231. 安養院 (Some days retired from the rest)
232. 聖彼得的小舟 (If my bark sink)
233. 鞋楦 (Were it to be the last)
234. 熱氣球 (I bet with every wind that blew)
235. 為甚麼離棄我 (How ruthless are the gentle)
236. 沙漏 (In this short life)
237. 垃圾堆積場 (Where every bird is bold to go)
238. 時尚恐怖 (Had we known the ton she bore)
239. 雙重否定 (God made no act without a cause)
240. 人壽保險 (Of so divine a loss)
241. 天賦 (Society for me my misery)
242. 背誦韻文 (When memory is full)
243. 上帝的考驗 (The butterfly in honored dust)
244. 日報 (Noon is the hinge of day)
245. 晨報 (Let my first knowing be of thee)
246. 太陽報 (The sun is one and on the tare)
247. 舊報紙 (Lest any doubt that we are glad)
248. 紐約市監獄 (A dimple in the tomb)
249. 狂亂聚會 (The worthlessness of earthly things)
250. 匿名記者 (We shun because we prize her face)
251. 探險家 (Not that he goes we love him more)
252. 不吉利的十三 (Spurn the temerity)
253. 分期付款 (Before he comes we weigh the time)
254. 狡猾收費員 (Time's wily chargers will not wait)
255. 欺騙 (Opinion is a flitting thing)
256. 保險箱 (If wrecked upon the wharf of thought)
257. 留聲機 (Could that sweet darkness)
258. 為甚麼發語詞 (Love's stricken why)
259. 認同 (Obtaining but our own extent)
260. 太陽帽 (The pattern of the sun)
261. 至福天堂 (Bliss is the plaything of the child)
262. 選擇事奉回憶 (Blossoms will run away)
263. 加班 (We wear our sober dresses when we die)
264. 名聲的翅膀 (Fame is a bee)
265. 煩惱的禍源 (Is immortality a bane)
266. 靈魂奴隸 (Soul, take thy risk)
267. 美容院 (Beauty crowds me till I die)
268. 經濟大恐慌 (How much of source escapes with thee)
269. 學院 (As we pass houses musing slow)
270. 劇場演員 (Immured in heaven)
271. 冷漠 (No autumn's intercepting chill)
272. 管束與妥協 (There are two mays)
273. 艾蜜莉的他 (Lives he in any other world)
274. 包廂觀眾 (God is indeed a jealous God)
275. 卓越的詩 (Such are the inlets of the mind)
276. 南方黑奴 (It rises passes on our south)
277. 黑色身體 (His heart was darker)
278. 教堂墓地 (Of paradise' existence)
279. 死神 (The infinite a sudden guest)
280. 死亡 (Unto the whole how add)
281. 不朽的信仰 (Take all away)
282. 榮耀與友情 (Nature assigns the sun)
283. 愚人節 (Not at home to callers)
284. 五線譜 (The words the happy say)
285. 啟示 (Not knowing when the dawn will come)
常見的詩
286. 賣火柴的小女孩 (A poor torn heart)
287. 狹口谷地 (Hope is the thing with feathers)
288. 華盛頓紀念碑 (Because I could not stop for death)
289. 渴望美麗 (I died for beauty but was scarce)
290. 行星 (How happy is the little stone)
291. 牧人競技 (My wars are laid away in books)
292. 十七的解救 (Bee! I'm expecting you!)
293. 退稿 (This is my letter to the world)
294. 歌利亞甲蟲 (I took my power in my hand)
295. 紅裳後翅蛾 (I'm wife. I've finished that)
296. 鐵線蓮 (I had no time to hate)
297. 人壽保險 (I stepped from plank to plank)
298. 仲夏夜之夢 (If I can stop one heart)
299. 周期蟬 (Further in summer than the birds)
300. 三審 (My life closed twice before its close)
301. 怪物 (I'm nobody! Who are you?)
302. 經痛 (Pain has an element of blank)
303. 瘋女胡安娜 (If those I loved were lost)
304. 焚燒垃圾 (The largest fire ever known)
305. 拼圖遊戲 (I felt a cleaving in my mind)
306. 贖罪券 (Publication is the auction)
307. 選舉 (Success is counted sweetest)
308. 海豹 (There's a certain slant of light)
309. 樂透 (There is no frigate like a book)
310. 老鼠窩 (I shall not murmur if at last)
311. 狂野交響夜 (Wild nights, wild nights)
312. 腦珊瑚 (The brain is wider than the sky)
313. 奧賽羅 (The heart asks pleasure first)
314. 白蟻 (He ate and drank the precious words)
315. 引座員 (I dwell in possibility)
316. 昨天的報紙 (Yesterday is history)
317. 大衛王 (We never know how high we are)
318. 巡迴布道者 (Tell all the truth but tell it slant)
319. 草莓女孩 (Over the fence)
320. 芭蕾舞者 (After great pain)
321. 牙疼 (Mine enemy is growing old)
322. 聖母馬利亞 (The soul selects her own society)
323. 尋人欄 (I like a look of agony)
解譯方法
解譯全部短詩
要證明一千七百首詩都是謎語，需要合理抽樣並破解達到相當數量。她八行詩的總數超過六百首，數量驚人。短於六行的詩有兩百八十五首，分散於不同年代，具備一定的代表性，解譯全部的短詩不以個人喜好來選擇是合理可行的方法。
長短的差異
短詩提供的資訊少，破解困難，容許數個答案存在。好處是較易閱讀，可以很快了解艾蜜莉的思考邏輯。短詩的分析方法與長詩相同。長詩解答的準確性較高，一個答案要符合詩中所有的描述相當困難，實務上的解析由長詩開始比較容易，更多的字提供更多線索。四行的瘋女胡安娜(↘079)非常難解，需先解開另一首八行的詩，由其中兩個專有名詞導向胡安娜(↘303)，隱居的艾蜜莉可以體會一位尊貴女子被監禁四十多年的處境。
命名等於答案
艾蜜莉不命名她的詩，她將名稱留給讀者。偶爾她會在信中暱稱一些詩，但這並非謎語的答案而是提示。她稱為蟋蟀的詩描寫的是周期蟬(↘299)，蟬的俗名(balm cricket)內含蟋蟀(cricket)的拼字，這可視為線索或解答的確認，艾蜜莉將自己的隱居喻為周期蟬，生活在黑暗中十七年後才有機會得到新的生命，這類簡縮用法經常出現在她詩中。
謎語結構
艾蜜莉先發掘一段她有興趣的文字，之後消除其中明顯與主題相關的部分以遮蔽來源，這時的詩只是個單純的謎語，接著她修改少許字詞融入自己的思想，讓這首詩擁有兩種讀法(↘272)。原來的謎語更模糊難解，新加入的想法讓這詩擁有生命。艾蜜莉曾說：「我的詩擁有生命」(↘206)，這生命之詩是她的親身經歷以謎語來掩飾。她詩的第一種解讀主述者經常變化，第二種解讀的主述者幾乎都是艾蜜莉自己，判別主述者(↘064)是解謎的關鍵之一。
解謎重點
解讀艾蜜莉的詩可先靠靈感，但要解答上千個謎語得有一套系統支援。毫無靈感時可將一首詩分解為單字，然後列出每一個字所有的解釋(↘264)與組合字(↘007)，在一排一排的資料中尋找關係。這方法過程冗長，但幾次演練後，經驗會讓之後的分析較快找到關鍵字，為此特別設計的電腦程式可縮短許多時間。
專有名詞
詩中的專有名詞是最佳提示，例如歌利亞甲蟲(↘294)或菲利普(↘303)。艾蜜莉選擇名字有時是為了建立同音雙關，東印度(↘014)與法蘭克福(↘195)的變音都可配合謎語的解答。
多義
字的多義性常被用作謎語的依據，特別發生於重複的字，這類重詞異義的辭格出現非常頻繁。艾蜜莉不放過意義相差很遠的多義字，例如希望(hope)與狹口谷地(↘287)，愛(love)與猜手指遊戲(↘128)，最後(last)與鞋楦(↘233)，痛苦(pain)與麵包(↘302)。
簡縮
艾蜜莉有時會直接提供答案的部分字詞於詩中，這類的簡縮辭格適用於組合字，例如詩中有「豹」這個字，但描述的內容卻符合木豹蛾(↘011)的生態而非花豹，「草莓」是草莓女孩(↘319)的簡縮，「巡迴」是巡迴布道者(↘318)或巡迴法庭(↘137)。
延伸與替代
謎語有時會延伸名詞的解釋，但艾蜜莉會提供相關的線索。「世界」可延伸為出版世界(↘293)，讓這首詩的解讀合理化。「字」可以是英文字或法文字(↘179)。赤道為地球南北的分界，艾蜜莉延伸赤道的意義來表達南北戰爭(↘147)。謎語中代名詞的替代變化較大，不同替代(↘055)允許不同的解讀。
直接與間接提示
艾蜜莉三十歲後不出家門，詩的題材來自她廣泛的閱讀，內容包括植物、動物、政治、文學等。一千七百首詩成為她私人的百科全書。如果詩的用字與答案部分相同，回溯來源通常比較容易。紫閃蛺蝶(↘002)的謎語中，艾蜜莉將紫色與帝王分置於詩的第一與最後一個字，合併後就是答案。曙光女神(Aurora)奧羅拉可連結到白朗寧的小說《奧羅拉·李》(↘081)，這類的謎語提供直接提示。
間接提示敘述一小段情節，可能來自聖經(↘101)、莎士比亞(↘066)、希臘神話(↘093)或童話(↘286)，解謎者對這些書需要有一定的熟悉程度。有些謎語的背景為當時的小說，例如《紅字》(↘088)或《悲慘世界》(↘075)，如果一本書今日已不常見，這時要靠數行字的描述找出原出處並不容易。艾蜜莉家中的圖書目錄對分析有幫助，但這書單並非她閱讀的唯一來源。
大寫與標點
詩中隨機出現的大寫字不是排版錯誤，原稿中就是如此，它掩護了謎語的線索，避免單一的大寫過於突出或規律化，大寫的代名詞可代表神或上帝或國家。看來像破折號的橫線經常打斷閱讀，研究艾蜜莉的手稿時，會發現她逗點與橫線有時難以區分，不同的標點允許多重解讀。艾蜜莉有時會為某些字加註替代字(↘322)，這些替代字顯示思考的過程但並非解謎的必要條件。
字典與修辭分析
詩人善用一個字所有可能的解釋，這類寡義辭格普通字典無法勝任。有些字的衍生用法大字典也沒有收錄，只能從當時的媒體尋找來源(↘319)。字的用法必須存在於艾蜜莉的創作時期，字典提供的日期可供參考，但其來源不足，部分用字在媒體上出現比字典的紀錄早五十年以上，如第267首(↘267)或第300首(↘300)。
艾蜜莉的詩常有雙關辭格，省略字詞的簡縮辭格，引用聖經或莎士比亞的引喻辭格，變化發音的同音雙關，利用數字的析數辭格，例如〈不吉利的十三〉(↘252)與〈十七的解救〉(↘292)。過多辭格讓分析失焦，因此解讀直接以文字敘述。
艾蜜莉的信
她寫的信留存一千一百多封，對象約一百人，這是在艾蜜莉過世後編輯向她的友人收集而來。許多人說信已遺失，因此真實的數目會更多。他人寫給艾蜜莉的信幾近全部銷毀，一般人不寫隱語，艾蜜莉或她家人無法容忍它們的存在。信可以幫助確認謎語的答案，艾蜜莉謎語的隱性規則不包含這部分，她未預期這些信會被收集出版，或者說她希望世界發掘她的詩而不是信。
創作年代與統計
艾蜜莉並不記錄詩的創作日期，她也經常更動內容，將數年前的詩改幾個字來配合當時發生的事件，再寄給相關友人。每首詩右下角括號內的年代都是大約日期，符號(－)代表日期不確定。
艾蜜莉的一千七百首詩約十萬字，她的信有二十一萬字。這本書解譯她的323首詩共7,700字英文與13,600字中譯，中英比為1.76，加上注解117,600字後，全書總計138,900字。
人物介紹
艾蜜莉·狄金森(Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886)
愛德華·狄金森(Edward Dickinson, 1803-1874)
艾蜜莉·諾克斯(Emily Norcross, 1804-1882)
威廉·奧斯丁(William Austin Dickinson, 1829-1895)
拉維妮亞·諾克斯(Lavinia Norcross Dickinson, 1833-1899)
梅貝爾·露明斯·陶德(Mabel Loomis Todd, 1856-1932)
蘇珊·杭丁頓·吉伯特(Susan Huntington Gilbert, 1830-1913)
凱瑟琳·史考特(Catherine Scott, 1831-1917)
山繆爾·鮑爾斯(Samuel Bowles, 1826-1878)
歐提斯·菲利普斯·羅德(Otis Phillips Lord, 1812-1884)
查理士·沃茲沃思(Charles Wadsworth, 1814-1882)
湯瑪斯·希金森(Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1823-1911)
荷蘭夫婦(Hollands)
諾克斯姊妹(Norcross)
海倫·杭特·傑克森(Helen Hunt Jackson, 1830-1885)
卡洛(Carlo, 1850?-1866)
