She wants to live and connect with the world through her words!” is Emily’s emphatic response to Sylvia’s broad brushstrokes description of the Amherst poet. The desk is in the correct place and the complete works of the poet (which were first published in 1955) grab her attention before Sylvia’s comments prompt Emily to rail against the current perception of her - “The only thing Emily did was wear white and cry” - and the many errors littered in this reductionist take. In Emily’s bedroom, there are a few decor changes - including the placement of the bed and the famous portrait of the Dickinson siblings, that was never hung in this room. Sylvia refers to the “great American poet, Emily Dickinson,’ which prompts Vinnie to rejoice, but celebrations are short-lived when Sylvia says most people still don’t care about her work. The reason she is the perfect 20th-century figure to converse with Emily comes from the fact that both their reputations have been distilled by tragedies. Sylvia Plath did go to Smith College and graduated in 1955 (after time off due to mental health issues).

Their house is locked, cars have replaced horses and carriages, and a young woman sporting crimson lipstick mentions a women’s college. The future is dizzying and not only because the gazebo spins them into this familiar yet strange landscape. It is only Sue who looks to the present offering up ‘today is all we have” as an appeal to Emily.

A weeping Vinnie (Anna Baryshnikov) laments lost love and dreams of the world before war killed her prospective husbands.

Watch true blood season 3 episode 7