The identity of the man Emily Dickinson loved is a mystery

Although Dickinson never got married, her love life wasn't always smooth. The occultist may be Dickinson's mentor, a Springfield newspaper editor, a tribute, a student at Amherst, God, or even a fictitious muse like George Gould, who went to the same school as her brother and is rumored to have proposed to her in the 1850s, according to scholars. Nearly two decades later, Dickinson started dating Judge Otis Lord, a friend of her father's who had recently lost his wife. In 1883, Lord proposed to the poet but never heard back. He passed away in 1884.

In 1872 or 1873, Dickinson met Otis Phillips Lord, a senior judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Court from Salem. Although their letters were lost, it is speculated that after the death of Lord's wife in 1877, his friendship with Dickinson evolved into a late-life romance. Lord strikes a chord with Dickinson, especially in terms of a common love of literature.

Even though she was never married, Dickinson's standard featured three intense love letters now known as "Master Letters" written between 1858 and 1862. She talked about an enigmatic man she fell in love with. The letters, which were all addressed to "Master," were written by Dickinson in clear, fluid English and were written in rough draft form with occasional dashes.