Introduction

Welcome to Emily Dickinson’s Double Language, a website devoted to the writings of Hans Werner Lüscher on the poet’s secret language. The archival materials presented in this website were compiled from the original manuscripts that Hans bequeathed to Rolf Amsler. They include all the drafts of Hans’s commentaries on over a thousand Dickinson poems, with a glossary of the symbols Hans developed to reveal the story Dickinson tells of her sexual life within the double language of her poems.

The poems appear as Hans transcribed them.

On this website, you will find the history behind Hans’s remarkable discovery. Although he was not able to find a publisher for his work during his lifetime, he bequeathed his manuscripts to Rolf in the hopes that Rolf might succeed where he failed. Since the materials Hans left are complex and voluminous, Rolf decided the best way to present them would be through internet technology. The advantages are obvious. With full access to all the files, you will be able to search individual poems, particular symbols as they occur throughout the corpus, and discover for yourself the methodology behind Hans’s painstaking research. We hope that such access will enable students to continue the work Hans started in furthering our knowledge of the life and achievements of this remarkable poet.