03x04 - This is my letter to the World

[bunniefuu]

["LOYAL" PLAYING]

Excuse me.

[MUSIC CONTINUES]

[EMILY] I enclose my name -
asking you, if you please - sir.

To tell me what is true?

[GROANS, SIGHS]

Excuse me, Colonel Higginson.
I'm here for the job interview.

Ah, of course.

Come in, my brother. Come in.

Apologies for the delay. I've
just returned from Hilton Head.

I... I did some, uh, strategizing
there with the brigadier general.

Still find all this m*llitary stuff
a bit bewildering, but... [SIGHS]

... if it helps advance the
cause of abolition, then I'm in.

Hmm.

And I understand that you

have also done some work
for this great cause.

I ran a small abolitionist
paper out of New England.

Of course. The
Constellation. I know it well.

- You do?
- Brilliant writing in that paper.

And you lent a
substantial amount of help

to our mutual friend, John Brown.

May he rest in peace.

Phew. May he rest in power.

Can I get an amen, my brother?

Uh, amen.

It was your connection to Mr. Brown

and your work in The
Constellation that

made me want to hire you for this job.

Oh, what... Really?

You see, Henry, I firmly believe

that the first man who
organizes and commands

a successful Black regiment

will perform the most important
service in the history of this w*r.

You know, Lincoln is not convinced
yet. But I truly believe that

these men have the capacity to
fight, and we're gonna prove it.

Eventually, Lincoln will sign
the Emancipation Proclamation,

and this is gonna become a
federally authorized regiment.

But to get there,

I must prove to all the... [INHALES]

... let's call them skeptics,

that these men are as
brave, as disciplined,

and as learned as any white soldiers.

- I see.
- Damn it.

There I go, centering whiteness again.

- Excuse me?
- Argh.

It's always a challenge, how
to have this conversation,

because, you know, the
standards that are being applied,

well, obviously those are the
standards of white supremacy,

the very system we're
trying to dismantle.

But at the same time,

if my soldiers don't
learn to read and write...

Ah, sh**t, there I go again.

Not "my soldiers," that's paternalistic.

I'm really trying to police my
language. Ah, not "police," patrol...

No, that's problematic as well.

Damn! [SIGHS]

I'll do better.

Uh, sorry. What's the job?

I want you to teach the
formerly-enslaved men

of the First South Carolina Volunteers

to read and write,
while at the same time

acknowledging the painful
histories and r*cist power dynamics

embedded in the very
language of English itself.

What do you think? Do you
have the bandwidth for that?

I want to assure you that,

although this was until very recently
a functioning sl*ve plantation,

we are now operating in a safe space.

I... I would be honored to work
as a teacher with your regiment.

Hell yes!

[BOTH LAUGH]

[SHOUTS] Look at us!
We're shaking the table.

- [LAUGHS]
- [LAUGHING] Indeed.

We are movement-building.

Solidarity is a verb, my brother.

[EXHALES SHARPLY, CHUCKLES]

This right here, us,
these relationships,

these are the true front lines.

And we are gonna win this w*r.

Your new South Carolina
Volunteer students await you.

You'll know them by their red pants.

[CHUCKLES]

Go. Start changing lives.

Okay.

- [CHUCKLES]
- [FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]

[HENRY SIGHS]

[LAUGHING]

- [VOLUNTEERS] ♪ Hey ♪
- [CLAPPING]

♪ Hail O the time draws nigh ♪

[VOLUNTEER ]
All right, come on. Let's go.

- ♪ Hey ♪
- [CLAPPING CONTINUES]

- ♪ Hey ♪
- [VOLUNTEER ] Mmm.

♪ Hail O the time draws nigh ♪

[VOLUNTEER ] ♪ Whoa,
horse in the valley ♪

- ♪ Hey! ♪
- ♪ Horse in the valley ♪

♪ Hail O the time draws nigh ♪

- [VOLUNTEER ] ♪ Who's gonna ride him? ♪
- [OTHER VOLUNTEERS] ♪ Hey! ♪

- ♪ Who's gonna ride him? ♪
- ♪ Hey! ♪

- ♪ Who's gonna ride him? ♪
- ♪ Hail O the time draws nigh ♪

[VOLUNTEER ] ♪ Whoa, look over yonder ♪

[OTHERS] ♪ Hey! ♪

- ♪ I see the sun ♪
- ♪ Hey! ♪

[VOLUNTEER ] ♪ I see the sun! ♪

[OTHERS] ♪ Hail O the time draws nigh ♪

[VOLUNTEER ] ♪ Hey!
It refuse to shine ♪

- [OTHERS] ♪ Hey! ♪
- ♪ It refuse to shine ♪

- ♪ Hey! ♪
- ♪ It refuse to shine ♪

[ALL] ♪ Hail O the time draws nigh ♪

[VOLUNTEER ] ♪ Oh, it's Judgment Day! ♪

- [OTHERS] ♪ Hey! ♪
- ♪ It's Judgment Day ♪

- ♪ Hey! ♪
- ♪ It's Judgment Day ♪

[ALL] ♪ Hail O the time draws nigh ♪

- [LAUGHS]
- Hey.

- [HENRY] ♪ Hey! Ha, ha, ha! ♪
- Hey!

♪ Ha, ha! Hey! ♪

[MUMBLING] ♪ Hail O
the time draws nigh ♪

Hey! [CHUCKLES]

Uh, are you guys ready
to get some education?

Who's this buckra with the chair?

Gentlemen, my name is Henry.

Your commander, Colonel Higginson,

has hired me to teach
you to read and write.

What is he saying?

Why he talk like that?

My dude, what is that accent?

- [CHUCKLES] You think I have an accent?
- Yeah.

Interesting.

To my ear, you all are the
ones with the unusual dialect.

- [CHUCKLES]
- Oh?

You call it Gullah, if I'm not
mistaken. Native of the Sea Islands.

Quite a melodious sound,

but a bit difficult to
pick out certain words.

He talks like a fancy cat
who drank too much milk.

- [LAUGH]
- Bro, stop that.

Well, as a matter of fact,
I am from Massachusetts.

- Oh! [LAUGHS]
- Oh, no!

Yeah. Yep.

Oh!

That's pretty rich.

Buckra coming around here
talking about he free,

when he live in a place
with the word "massa" in it.

But no, it's... it's mass-achoo-shits.

- [VOLUNTEER LAUGHS]
- Master-two-shits?

It sound like he sneezing.

I definitely heard "massa."

Yeah, it's offensive.

You don't say massa
round these parts, buckra.

Ain't no massas round here. We free.

Not free yet.

Freedom is a state of mind.

Yo, Erasmus, cut that sh*t, man.

Oh, well, we're more free than we were.

We're nowhere near as
free as we could be.

- Now you spittin'. Now you spittin'.
- I like him.

Gentlemen, if I may, I am
going to help you get free.

And just how you gonna do that?

I'm gonna teach you the
crucial skills of literacy...

You gonna help us get
some clean uniforms?

You fixin' to get us
paid to fight this w*r?

You gonna get Erasmus a pair of pants?

I'm just trying not to be a stereotype.

More importantly, you gonna
put some weapons in these hands?

We at w*r, buckra.
Maybe you ain't heard.

- g*ns and money.
- And shoes.

- And better food, maybe.
- In that order.

You mean, they're not paying you?

Man, they pay us dust.

Well, they do feed
us, so dust and grits.

They say they'll pay
us ten dollars a week.

Which is less than what
the white men get paid.

They don't even pay us that.

Yeah. So how about you go
tell Colonel Higgity-piggity

that we ready for our paychecks.

We want that sh*t in cash, man.

- That part.
- So...

they're not paying you,

and they haven't been
giving you the right clothes,

and you said you haven't been
receiving proper training with weapons?

Proper training? They won't
even let us touch a g*n.

All we do is stupid endless drills
and dig giant holes for no reason.

The army says we can't be
trusted yet with weapons.

The army says we have to wait,
that we have to prove ourselves.

We soldiers as much as any white
man, fighting on their side,

and they afraid of us.

We're not fighting on their side.

You're not?

No.

We're fighting for ourselves.

This is our w*r.

It's not the same as
theirs, and it never will be.

Well, whatever w*r I'm fighting,

I know I ain't gonna win it
without a damn g*n, buckra.

What is "buckra"?

- It mean "white man."
- [VOLUNTEER CHUCKLES]

It's a Gullah word.

It's a joke, man. Loosen your collar.

[LAUGHING]

So, can you get us some
g*ns, Mr. Master-two-shits?

I will talk with Higginson,
and I'll see what I can do.

- In the meantime...
- Yeah, what?

In the meantime...

maybe we can learn the alphabet.

[EDWARD CLEARS THROAT]

What's the matter, Edward? Bad news?

It's always bad news, this damn w*r.

It's turning the whole
nation into barbarians.

Yes, it's a real hellscape
out there. What's happened now?

My brother, Samuel, writes me that

his neighbor's plantation was ransacked.

Union army came through like Viking
invaders, tore the place apart.

Carved their names into the
mantelpiece when they were finished.

Well, I've always said he never
should have moved to Georgia.

It's a little late for that.
He's lived down south for decades.

He's raising a family down there.

Where are you going?

- I have a date.
- With whom?

Somebody you definitely
wouldn't approve of.

[EXHALES]

"I celebrate myself,

I sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to
me as good belongs to you."

["NEW YORK, NEW YORK" PLAYING]

Excuse me, I'm looking for...

Pardon me, have you...

[MAN] Coming through. Coming
through. Let's keep it moving, people.

Ooh, gosh! Sorry! Uh, hi,
I'm looking for Walt Whitman.

Ah, well, then it's your lucky day

because I am Walt Whitman. [LAUGHS]

Oh, my God... [PANTS] Incredible,
I can't believe I found you.

Why? It's not hard to find me.

After all, I am
everywhere. I am everything.

I am the paving man, the canal boy,

the deckhands, the
clean-haired Yankee girl,

the conductor, the squaw.

I am the rattlesnake, the alligator,
the panther, the black bear.

I am Walt Whitman, cosmos,
democracy, Manhattan.

I am New York.

Oh. [SIGHS] Okay, um, I'm
Emily Dickinson of Amherst.

Oh, New England.
Massachusetts. Boston town.

Yes, well, near... near Boston.

O, my soldier.

The bugles and drums give
you music, and my heart...

O, my soldier, my heart gives you love.

This is... This is why I'm here.
This is why I came to see you,

Mr. Whitman, I am a poet.

Ah, a poet.

So then you must know the urge.

The urge and urge and urge.

Always the procreant urge of the world.

To sing the song. To chant the chant.

To join in the great
and infinite chorus!

I'm moving on.

Yes! Uh, yes. Um, so I...
I am a poet just like you,

and someone told me that if
I want to write great poetry...

- Yes?
- Then I need to be like you,

and I need to go out into the
world and confront its pain.

Ah, so you're into pain, huh?

Um, yeah?

Well, then you've come to the right
place! This is New York City, baby.

The Bronx is up, the Battery's
down, and pain is everywhere.

Follow me, Emily Dickinson.
Let's go hurt ourselves.

[SIGHS]

["LETTER" PLAYING]

- [WOMAN] Good morning!
- [MAN] Nice to see you.

- [SHOUTS]
- [SCREAMS, LAUGHS]

[MOUTHING WORDS] I'm sorry.

My God, it's such terrible
news from Savannah.

Mmm.

I wish there was a way that
I could help my brother,

but I'm not even sure
that they're delivering

the letters that I write him anymore.

This damn w*r.

You know it's dangerous for us to
be corresponding with Confederates.

- It makes people talk.
- What the hell am I supposed to do?

Cut off my own flesh and
blood because of geography?

You know that's not the way
I operate, Mrs. Dickinson.

Family is what matters.

Why on earth are you
scratching yourself like that?

Me, scratching? You're
the one that's scratching.

I am?

Yes, I am.

I am itching. Why does my clothing itch?

- Yes, mine do too.
- [GROANS]

What in God's name?

Did you forget to do
the laundry this week?

How dare you suggest that I
would ever forget that, Edward?

You know I live for laundry day.

- Then what the hell is making me so itchy?
- I have no idea.

I can only assume this
must be Maggie's fault.

[BOTH] Maggie!

[WHISPERS INDISTINCTLY]

[WHITMAN] Do I contradict myself?
Very well then, I contradict myself.

I sound my barbaric yawp
over the roofs of the world.

- Yawp! Yawp!
- Whitman, keep it down.

Aha! I will keep it down,
and I will keep it up.

And I will keep it going on
and on until the break of dawn.

You see, I'm a poet of the
body, and a poet of the soul.

So, what is pain to me but
just another side of pleasure?

What is a poet but just one facet
of the all-powerful universe itself?

You are not just Emily
Dickinson, you are everyone.

You are every man here.

So you must not just ask the
wounded person how he feels.

You yourself must become
the wounded person.

[PATIENT GROANS]

My brother, when that b*llet hit you,

did you feel all that
this country has been?

And did all that it ever
might be run through you?

- Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
- Are you America?

Yeah. I think so.

Yes! Yes, you are. And so am I.

And so is she, and so is
he, and so is every man here.

And so America is the greatest poem.

Let's move on.

I'm... I'm not sure I'm
catching all of this.

What? No, don't try to catch it.

Instead just let it go.

Drop out of your brain down
into your body and feel.

The pleasure, the pain,
the sunlight, the shade.

Just exist as you are. That is enough.

- I'm dying.
- Yes! You are dying.

And you are lucky. Do you
think it is lucky to be born?

Well, I hasten to inform you
it is just as lucky to die.

And every man here is dying.

Every man here is dying
of multiple causes:

gangrene, syphilis, dysentery, g*nsh*t,

bayonet, dysentery,
dysentery, dysentery.

- Louisa?
- Emily.

- Oh, you know her?
- This is Louisa May Alcott.

It's so good to see you
here on the front lines.

- What are you doing here?
- Oh, I'm also a Civil w*r nurse.

Yet another surprising, but
legitimate actual fact about me.

You know, I get so much great
material from doing this.

I'm learning a lot, but great
fiction is always based in fact,

and this place is chock-full
of specificity and detail,

you know what I mean?

Right, you mean, like,

the inextricable nature of... of...

of death and life, of pain and ecstasy?

Uh, yeah. No, like how
wounds actually smell bad.

Honestly, when some of
these guys show up here,

it is the vilest odor that has
ever assaulted the human nose.

It's kinda gross, but,
you know, facts are facts.

- [EMILY] Hmm.
- [GRUNTS]

[SCREAMS] He's gone!

He d*ed in your arms!
Oh, life! Identity!

- This is really, really great material.
- The powerful play...

I'm gonna take some notes. Death sells.

[WHITMAN] Poor boy.

Daddy. Daddy, is that you?

Yes. I am your daddy.

Sometimes we pretend to be their family,

so they feel they get
the chance to say goodbye.

[WHITMAN] I am your father.

And I am your son,

and your mother, and your neighbor.

Yeah, he just takes it
a little bit too far.

- Sure.
- My son, how is your bloody stump today?

Oh, Daddy, 'tis fearsome indeed.

Well, it ought to raise
your spirits to know

I've brought your dear
sister here to see you.

[PANTS] Sister? Oh, my
sister Annabelle, is that you?

Yes. Yes, I... I... I am your sister.

Sister! I cannot enter
into the kingdom of heaven

until you wish me farewell.

Won't you grant your poor
brother one last kiss?

Oh, come on. He gave
his life for the Union.

Give him a smooch.

Oh, for Christ's sake.

Come here, boy.

Walt, come on, too far.

Like you never saw two men
embrace on your dad's commune.

- Who needs a drink?
- [FIDDLE PLAYS]

[WOMAN SINGING] ♪ 'Twas a
Friday morn when we set sail ♪

♪ And we were not far from the land ♪

♪ Our captain, he spied
a lovely mermaid ♪

♪ With a comb and a glass in her hand ♪

[WOMAN, BACKUP SINGERS] ♪ Oh,
the ocean waves will roll... ♪

- What is this place?
- [MUSIC CONTINUES]

Pfaff's Beer Cellar, the
greatest bar in New York City.

It's amazing. You can smoke inside.

Shall we?

♪ And the landlubbers lie ♪
♪ Down below, below, below ♪

♪ The landlubbers lie down below ♪

[MUSIC ENDS]

- Austin, keep it down, please.
- Okay.

You'll wake him up.

Okay.

He is pretty cute, isn't he?

Can tell just by looking
at him he's a Dickinson.

You doubted that?

Oh, don't rock the
bassinet. You'll wake him up.

I'm not rocking it, okay?

You need to trust my instincts more.

I can be a good father, you know.

In my experience, good fathers
just stay out of the way.

- Austin, you'll wake him up. Please.
- [SHUSHES]

♪ I had a little nut tree ♪

♪ Nothing would it bear ♪

♪ But a silver nutmeg ♪

Austin, please stop singing.
You will wake him up.

Please, he's sleeping.

- ♪ King of Spain's daughter ♪
- Austin, he is sleeping.

♪ Came to visit... ♪

- Austin.
- I know how to take care of him, Sue.

He's my son.

Have you been drinking again?
You always sing when you're drunk.

I hope our child doesn't
inherit all your traits.

[WHITMAN] You're far too cerebral.

You need to get out of your
mind and into your body.

To be a great poet, you
have to feel everything.

All this I swallow, it tastes good,
I like it well, it becomes mine.

I am the man. I suffered. I was there!

Yes!

- [EMILY] Bartender, another round!
- [WHITMAN LAUGHS]

- [GROANS] The agony.
- Oh, it burns.

Scratch me harder, Maggie.

Mmm. What the hell is
causing this infernal itching?

- Is it poisonous ants?
- Oh, that don't seem likely, sir.

I'm thinking there's a much
more reasonable explanation.

Oh, yes? Like what?

My common sense tells me
that it's probably elves.

- I'm sorry, did you say...
- Elves. Tiny men.

Always full of mischief, they are.
Spreading their powders around.

Their powders?

Normally, it's a good sign
to have elves in the house.

Somebody must have done
something to upset them.

The elves are upset.

Looks that way.

- And now they've become disruptive.
- Edward, what are we gonna do?

We do not have magical creatures
living in this house, Mrs. Dickinson.

[GROANS, SCREAMS] Monster!

[EDWARD] Lavinia, what
the hell happened to you?

[MRS. DICKINSON] Why
are you covered in dirt?

I buried myself alive.

May I ask why?

To honor the fallen soldiers.

I wanna experience
everything they experienced.

I wanna feel all their pain.
Brings me closer to them.

That's why I dismantled my canopy
bed and started sleeping in the barn.

You've been sleeping in
the barn with the horses?

That would explain the smell.

Yeah, I slept in the barn last night.

But, unfortunately, the
cot was infested with fleas.

- Fleas?
- Fleas?

Aye, fleas. Not elves,
fleas. 'Twas my next guess.

- You brought fleas into this house.
- And that's why we're itching so badly!

Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

- [SIGHS]
- Damn it! They're everywhere!

[MRS. DICKINSON] Edward,
how do we get rid of them?

We need to fumigate. Fill the
house with sulfur. Everybody out.

Has anyone seen Emily?

["DO IT" PLAYING]

Whoo!

Oh, wow. Oh, I feel... I feel crazy.

- Yes. Good. Poets should feel crazy.
- Mmm.

Crazy and wild and free.

But I can't stop thinking
about the dying soldiers.

- They were all in so much pain. I...
- Oh, pain is good for a poet.

All feelings are. Yeah, the
more intense, the better.

We must feel maximum
pain and maximum pleasure.

- Mmm.
- So, tell me, Emily Dickinson,

what turns you on?

Oh, I d... I don't know.

Oh, of course you know.

Come on! What turns you on? What
riles you up? What gets you hot?

- I'm thinking...
- No! Stop thinking. Stop thinking.

- Just say it. Say it right now!
- Okay! It's Sue.

- Oh, now we're talking.
- [CHUCKLES] Mmm.

Okay. So, who's Sue?

Right. Uh, well, S... Well, Sue is my...

- She's... She's my, um... [CLICKS TONGUE]
- Your?

Okay, she's... she's sort of my friend.

- Right, she's sort of my sister.
- Mmm.

And she's also my sort of my...

- Lover?
- Yeah.

Oh! Fabulous! Yes.

And is it with Sue that you drain
all the pent-up rivers of yourself?

Excuse me?

Is it with Sue that you
wrap a thousand onward years?

Is it with Sue that you
envelop? Sue that you draw close?

Sue that you cannot let go?

Is it with Sue that you interpenetrate?

What?

Yo. Whoo-hoo.

Well... [CHUCKLES] yeah.

Say it then! Shout it out loud!
Free love! Free expression!

- Sex, sex, sex.
- Ah.

Let me tell you, whether you
sing a song, or make a machine,

or go to the North Pole,
or love your mother,

or build a house, or black shoes,

anything, anything at
all, is sex, sex, sex.

- I love Sue.
- I can't hear you. I can't hear you.

- Scream it.
- I love Sue!

Okay?

I love Sue! And I... I want her!
And I can't get enough of her!

And if I was on my deathbed right
now, all I would want is Sue!

Hell yes!

["ONE MORE TIME" PLAYING]

Now that's a poem.

Wanna dance?

Oh, hang on. Hang on, I'm still
trying to understand if my poetry...

Oh, no, my dear, stop trying
to understand and just feel.

When you give, give yourself.

Drink with the drinkers.
Dance with the dancers.

Come on!

New York is back!

[MUSIC CONTINUES]

[EMILY] This is my letter to the World

That never wrote to Me -

The simple news that nature told -

With tender majesty

[NO AUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

Her message is committed

To Hands I cannot see -

[NO AUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

For love of Her - sweet - countrymen -

Judge tenderly - of me

[MUSIC CONTINUES]