Dickinson's poem appeared in the Springfield Daily Republican on February 20, 1852, titled 'A Valentine.'
On February 20, 1852, the poem later catalogued as 'Sic transit gloria mundi' was published under the title 'A Valentine' in the Springfield Daily Republican, one of the most widely circulated newspapers in western Massachusetts.
This was one of only a handful of Dickinson's poems to see print during her lifetime, and it appeared without her byline, in keeping with her strong preference for anonymity and privacy regarding her creative work.
The Springfield Daily Republican, edited by Samuel Bowles, a family friend of the Dickinsons, would become the periodical most associated with Dickinson's rare lifetime publications. This early appearance demonstrates the informal channels—friendship, family connection, and local literary culture—through which her poems occasionally reached print, rather than through her own deliberate submission to literary markets.
The valentine form was a popular vehicle for humorous and clever verse in the period, and this poem reflects the youthful, exuberant wordplay of Dickinson's early writing, contrasting with the more famously enigmatic and philosophically dense poetry of her mature years. Its publication remains a key data point for scholars tracing the earliest public reception of her work.