My research consisted of several searches including databases, journals and microfiche.  I set an objective to find out as much I as could on tribute, memorial and/or occasional poems/poetry and the circulation or publication during the nineteenth-century thereof.  Surprising, there is little information printed about these types of writings.  It is apparent that this type of writing took place during the nineteenth-century and scholars are aware of this type of writing but not much more is given attention.  I then took a turn to look for any information that was in some form relating to nineteenth-century women’s literacy and writings.  Giving attention to the writing that took the form of poetry, letters and or essays.  American literature, published writing, that is, in the early nineteenth- century was limited to the mainstream of wealthy men.  Few women wrote in prose form under the identity of men just so their voices could be heard.  During the mid-nineteenth century middle-class women’s writing began to emerge in the shape of writing for magazine articles, therefore, journalism was a career choice for many who were appeased to make a mark in American literature.  Some women took part in this milestone of women’s writing, others were more entertained with of sharing books of poetry, for instance, at tea parties and women’s gatherings.  Consequently, women were not gaited to do much more than that of entertaining and the usual daily rituals of caring for children and keeping the house in order.  Soon much of this changed when a surge of literary enlightenment unveiled itself with such movements surfacing as the Lyceum, which was an account of educational and intellectual stimulation through literacy.  Its organization embraced most of the intelligent minds whose ideas were to educate not only children, but foremost and importantly the adults.  Seeking education from higher institutions was persuaded to some degree, although education through self-reflection was that of the movement.  Commonly, it was men, who in the form of lectures or even essays generally gave these reflections.  Sermons from the clergy also played a vital role in moving toward a literary array of individuals, particularly for men.

Nonetheless, being curious and eager to learn, women began to embrace this cultural upward spiral by writing poetry and letters.  Soon there was a rise of female literacy.    Writing became the focal point of their daily lives.  Women were soon on the forefront on the literary explosion.  Writing became the canon through which many could express themselves.  Women were writing letters and poetry to one another about family life, marriages and births, illnesses and deaths.  Allowing them to escape the common drudges of everyday life to find solace as being a part of this vast universe as their male counterpart- an existence.  An opportunity to create a form of self-expression did so much to the human psyche in the nineteenth-century woman that it became the very essence for which they lived and thrived to project.  Moreover, these writing were hardly if ever published but shared and circulated amongst the very closest friends and even lovers. Not limited to only women, men, such as Waldo Ralph Emerson himself was a product of circulating letters and pieces of poetry amongst friends often showing a side of him in a clearer image not notable in his poetry and essays.  Emerson describes that, “friends such as we desire are dreams and fables”.  He concludes that with the exchange of such expressions is a sacred relationship between one soul and another, which leaves the language of love suspicious and common, so much is the purer, and nothing is so much divine.”    This is seen in the letters of Emily Lady Tennyson as well.  We can greatly appreciate complex relationship of Emily Dickinson and Helen Hunt as one of an American literary masterpiece.  These two women share a common bond of writing of which many misunderstood and often misrepresented as a form of literature.  Both shared a friendship that bears witness to communication being essential to any relationship.  Embarking upon the historical phenomena of remarkable female friendships, this nineteenth-century friendship manuscript book is just that -remarkable. In its own mystical way it has given us a glimpse of the unquestionable love of writing and the presence of “kindred spirits” dancing to the sound of pen and paper. This research has done more for my literary enjoyment than for analysis. 

    It is known today that for the many years during the mid-nineteenth century that many of Emily Dickenson’s poems were never published until after her death in 1886.  This is true for many letters, essays and poems, and possibly including tribute, memorial and or obituary poems, which did women often write.

  In conclusion, this manuscript represents the mobility of women in the journey of visits to friends and family with evidence of highly integrated networks of friend circulating creative expressions, which lie at the basis of fundamental existential realities of women lives.

    Therefore all poems are elegies --George Barker