BELSHAZZAR had a letter,—
He never had but one;
Belshazzar’s correspondent
Concluded and begun
In that immortal copy
The conscience of us all
Can read without its glasses
On revelation’s wall.
Belshazzar had a letter
Summary
"Belshazzar had a letter" is a compact poem that turns the biblical feast of King Belshazzar into a riddle about conscience. In just eight lines, a king receives his only message, written by a mysterious correspondent on a palace wall. Dickinson hints that this warning is one every reader can decipher without spectacles. The mood is wry, solemn and quietly unsettling, built around a single image of judgment arriving in glowing script.
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