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- Biographical information
- A Bee His Burnished Carriage
- A Bird Came Down The Walk
- A Burdock -- Clawed My Gown
- A Cap Of Lead Across The Sky
- A Charm Invests A Face
- A Clock Stopped
- A Cloud Withdrew From The Sky
- A Coffin -- Is A Small Domain
- A Counterfeit -- A Plated Person
- A Curious Cloud Surprised The Sky
- A Darting Fear -- A Pomp -- A Tear
- A Day! Help! Help! Another Day!
- A Death Blow Is A Life Blow To Some
- A Deed Knocks First At Thought
- A Dew Sufficed Itself
- A Diamond On The Hand
- A Dimple In The Tomb
- A Door Just Opened An A Street
- A Doubt If It Be Us
- A Drop Fell On The Apple Tree
- A Drunkard Cannot Meet A Cork
- A Dying Tiger -- Moaned For Drink
- A Face Devoid Of Love Or Grace
- A Faded Boy -- In Sallow Clothes
- A Feather From The Whippoorwill
- A Field Of Stubble, Lying Sere
- A First Mute Coming
- A Flower Will Not Trouble Her
- A Full Fed Rose On Meals Of Tint
- A Fuzzy Fellow, Without Feet
- A Great Hope Fell
- A Happy Lip -- Breaks Sudden
- A House Upon The Height
- A Lady Red -- Amid The Hill
- A Lane Of Yellow Led The Eye
- A Light Exists In Spring
- A Little Bread -- A Crust -- A Crumb
- A Little Dog That Wags His Tail
- A Little East Of Jordan
- A Little Madness In The Spring
- A Little Overflowing Word
- A Little Road -- Not Made Of Man
- A Little Snow Was Here And There
- A Long -- Long Sleep -- A famous -- Sleep
- A Loss Of Something Ever Felt I
- A Man May Make A Remark
- A Mien To Move A Queen
- A Mine There Is No Man Would Own
- A Moth The Hue Of This
- A Murmur In The Trees -- To Note
- A Narrow Fellow In The Grass
- A Nearness To Tremendousness
- A Night -There Lay The Days Between
- A Pang Is More Conspicuous In Spring
- A Pit -- But Heaven Over It
- A Planted Life -- Diversified
- A Poor -- Torn Heart -- A Tattered Heart
- A Precious -- Mouldering Pleasure -- 'Tis
- A Prison Gets To Be A Friend
- A Prompt -- Executive Bird Is The Jay
- A Rat Surrendered Here
- A Route Of Evanescence
- A Saucer Holds A Cup
- A Science -- So The Savants Say
- A Secret told
- A Sepal, Petal, And A Thorn
- A Shade Upon The Mind There Passes
- A Shady Friend -- For Torrid Days
- A Sickness Of This World It Most Occasions
- A Single Clover Plank
- A Single Screw Of Flesh
- A Slash Of Blue
- A Sloop Of Amber Slips Away
- A Soft Sea Washed Around The House
- A Solemn Thing -- It Was -- I Said
- A Solemn Thing Within The Soul
- A Something In A Summer's Day
- A South Wind -- Has A Pathos
- A Sparrow Took A Slice Of Twig
- A Spider Sewed At Night
- A Stagnant Pleasure Like A Pool
- A Still -- Volcano -- Life
- A Thought Went Up My Mind Today
- A Throe Upon The Features
- A Toad, Can Die Of Light
- A Tongue -- To Tell Him I Am True
- A Tooth Upon Our Peace
- A Train Went Through A Burial Gate
Biographical information- Name: Emily Elizabeth Dickinson
Place and date of birth: Amherst, Massachusetts (United States); December 10, 1830
Place and date of death: Amherst, Massachusetts (United States); May 15, 1886 (aged 55)- A Bee His Burnished Carriage
- A Bee his burnished Carriage
Drove boldly to a Rose --
Combinedly alighting --
Himself -- his Carriage was --
The Rose received his visit
With frank tranquillity
Withholding not a Crescent
To his Cupidity --
Their Moment consummated --
Remained for him -- to flee --
Remained for her -- of rapture
But the humility.
A Bird Came Down The Walk- A Bird came down the Walk --
He did not know I saw --
He bit an Angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,
And then he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass --
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass --
He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all around --
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought --
He stirred his Velvet Head
Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home --
Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam --
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon
Leap, plashless as they swim.
A Burdock -- Clawed My Gown- A Burdock -- clawed my Gown --
Not Burdock's -- blame --
But mine --
Who went too near
The Burdock's Den --
A Bog -- affronts my shoe --
What else have Bogs -- to do --
The only Trade they know --
The splashing Men!
Ah, pity -- then!
'Tis Minnows can despise!
The Elephant's -- calm eyes
Look further on!
A Cap Of Lead Across The Sky- A Cap of Lead across the sky
Was tight and surly drawn
We could not find the mighty Face
The Figure was withdrawn --
A Chill came up as from a shaft
Our noon became a well
A Thunder storm combines the charms
Of Winter and of Hell.
A Cap Of Lead Across The Sky- A Cap of Lead across the sky
Was tight and surly drawn
We could not find the mighty Face
The Figure was withdrawn --
A Chill came up as from a shaft
Our noon became a well
A Thunder storm combines the charms
Of Winter and of Hell.
A Charm Invests A Face- A Charm invests a face
Imperfectly beheld --
The Lady date not lift her Veil
For fear it be dispelled --
But peers beyond her mesh --
And wishes -- and denies --
Lest Interview -- annul a want
That Image -- satisfies --
A Clock Stopped- A Clock stopped --
Not the Mantel's --
Geneva's farthest skill
Can't put the puppet bowing --
That just now dangled still --
An awe came on the Trinket!
The Figures hunched, with pain --
Then quivered out of Decimals --
Into Degreeless Noon --
It will not stir for Doctors --
This Pendulum of snow --
This Shopman importunes it --
While cool -- concernless No --
Nods from the Gilded pointers --
Nods from the Seconds slim --
Decades of Arrogance between
The Dial life --
And Him --
A Cloud Withdrew From The Sky- A Cloud withdrew from the Sky
Superior Glory be
But that Cloud and its Auxiliaries
Are forever lost to me
Had I but further scanned
Had I secured the Glow
In an Hermetic Memory
It had availed me now.
Never to pass the Angel
With a glance and a Bow
Till I am firm in Heaven
Is my intention now.
A Coffin -- Is A Small Domain- A Coffin -- is a small Domain,
Yet able to contain
A Citizen of Paradise
In it diminished Plane.
A Grave -- is a restricted Breadth --
Yet ampler than the Sun --
And all the Seas He populates
And Lands He looks upon
To Him who on its small Repose
Bestows a single Friend --
Circumference without Relief --
Or Estimate -- or End --
A Counterfeit -- A Plated Person- A Counterfeit -- a Plated Person --
I would not be --
Whatever strata of Iniquity
My Nature underlie --
Truth is good Health -- and Safety, and the Sky.
How meagre, what an Exile -- is a Lie,
And Vocal -- when we die --
A Curious Cloud Surprised The Sky- A curious Cloud surprised the Sky,
'Twas like a sheet with Horns;
The sheet was Blue --
The Antlers Gray --
It almost touched the lawns.
So low it leaned -- then statelier drew --
And trailed like robes away,
A Queen adown a satin aisle
Had not the majesty.
A Darting Fear -- A Pomp -- A Tear- A darting fear -- a pomp -- a tear --
A waking on a morn
To find that what one waked for,
Inhales the different dawn.
A Day! Help! Help! Another Day!- A Day! Help! Help! Another Day!
Your prayers, oh Passer by!
From such a common ball as this
Might date a Victory!
From marshallings as simple
The flags of nations swang.
Steady -- my soul: What issues
Upon thine arrow hang!
A Death Blow Is A Life Blow To Some- A Death blow is a Life blow to Some
Who till they died, did not alive become --
Who had they lived, had died but when
They died, Vitality begun.
A Deed Knocks First At Thought- A Deed knocks first at Thought
And then -- it knocks at Will --
That is the manufacturing spot
And Will at Home and well
It then goes out an Act
Or is entombed so still
That only to the ear of God
Its Doom is audible --
A Dew Sufficed Itself- A Dew sufficed itself --
And satisfied a Leaf
And felt "how vast a destiny" --
"How trivial is Life!"
The Sun went out to work --
The Day went out to play
And not again that Dew be seen
By Physiognomy
Whether by Day Abducted
Or emptied by the Sun
Into the Sea in passing
Eternally unknown
Attested to this Day
That awful Tragedy
By Transport's instability
And Doom's celerity.
A Diamond On The Hand- A Diamond on the Hand
To Custom Common grown
Subsides from its significance
The Gem were best unknown --
Within a Seller's Shrine
How many sight and sigh
And cannot, but are mad for fear
That any other buy.
A Dimple In The Tomb- A Dimple in the Tomb
Makes that ferocious Room
A Home --
A Door Just Opened An A Street- A Door just opened on a street --
I -- lost -- was passing by --
An instant's Width of Warmth disclosed --
And Wealth -- and Company.
The Door as instant shut -- And I --
I -- lost -- was passing by --
Lost doubly -- but by contrast -- most --
Informing -- misery --
A Doubt If It Be Us- A doubt if it be Us
Assists the staggering Mind
In an extremer Anguish
Until it footing find.
An Unreality is lent,
A merciful Mirage
That makes the living possible
While it suspends the lives.
A Drop Fell on the Apple Tree- A drop fell on the apple tree --
Another -- on the Roof --
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves --
And made the Gables laugh --
A few went out to help the Brook
That went to help the Sea --
Myself Conjectured were they Pearls --
What Necklace could be --
The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads --
The Birds jocoser sung --
The Sunshine threw his Hat away --
The Bushes -- spangles flung --
The Breezes brought dejected Lutes --
And bathed them in the Glee --
Then Orient showed a single Flag,
And signed the Fete away --
A Drunkard Cannot Meet A Cork- A Drunkard cannot meet a Cork
Without a Revery --
And so encountering a Fly
This January Day
Jamaicas of Remembrance stir
That send me reeling in --
The moderate drinker of Delight
Does not deserve the spring --
Of juleps, part are the Jug
And more are in the joy --
Your connoisseur in Liquours
Consults the Bumble Bee --
A Dying Tiger -- Moaned For Drink- A Dying Tiger -- moaned for Drink --
I hunted all the Sand --
I caught the Dripping of a Rock
And bore it in my Hand --
His Mighty Balls -- in death were thick --
But searching -- I could see
A Vision on the Retina
Of Water -- and of me --
'Twas not my blame -- who sped too slow --
'Twas not his blame -- who died
While I was reaching him --
But 'twas -- the fact that He was dead --
A Face Devoid Of Love Or Grace- A face devoid of love or grace,
A hateful, hard, successful face,
A face with which a stone
Would feel as thoroughly at ease
As were they old acquaintances --
First time together thrown.
A Faded Boy -- In Sallow Clothes- A faded Boy -- in sallow Clothes
Who drove a lonesome Cow
To pastures of Oblivion --
A statesman's Embryo --
The Boys that whistled are extinct --
The Cows that fed and thanked
Remanded to a Ballad's Barn
Or Clover's Retrospect --
A Feather From The Whippoorwill- A feather from the Whippoorwill
That everlasting -- sings!
Whose galleries -- are Sunrise --
Whose Opera -- the Springs --
Whose Emerald Nest the Ages spin
Of mellow -- murmuring thread --
Whose Beryl Egg, what Schoolboys hunt
In "Recess" -- Overhead!
A Field Of Stubble, Lying Sere- A Field of Stubble, lying sere
Beneath the second Sun --
Its Toils to Brindled People thrust --
Its Triumphs -- to the Bin --
Accosted by a timid Bird
Irresolute of Alms --
Is often seen -- but seldom felt,
On our New England Farms --
A First Mute Coming- A first Mute Coming --
In the Stranger's House --
A first fair Going --
When the Bells rejoice --
A first Exchange -- of
What hath mingled -- been --
For Lot -- exhibited to
Faith -- alone --
A Flower Will Not Trouble Her- A Flower will not trouble her, it has so small a Foot,
And yet if you compare the Lasts,
Hers is the smallest Boot --
A Full Fed Rose On Meals Of Tint- A full fed Rose on meals of Tint
A Dinner for a Bee
In process of the Noon became -
Each bright Mortality
The Forfeit is of Creature fair
Itself, adored before
Submitting for our unknown sake
To be esteemed no more --
A Fuzzy Fellow, Without Feet- A fuzzy fellow, without feet,
Yet doth exceeding run!
Of velvet, is his Countenance,
And his Complexion, dun!
Sometime, he dwelleth in the grass!
Sometime, upon a bough,
From which he doth descend in plush
Upon the Passer-by!
All this in summer.
But when winds alarm the Forest Folk,
He taketh Damask Residence --
And struts in sewing silk!
Then, finer than a Lady,
Emerges in the spring!
A Feather on each shoulder!
You'd scarce recognize him!
By Men, yclept Caterpillar!
By me! But who am I,
To tell the pretty secret
Of the Butterfly!
A Great Hope Fell- A great Hope fell
You heard no noise
The Ruin was within
Oh cunning wreck that told no tale
And let no Witness in
The mind was built for mighty Freight
For dread occasion planned
How often foundering at Sea
Ostensibly, on Land
A not admitting of the wound
Until it grew so wide
That all my Life had entered it
And there were troughs beside
A closing of the simple lid
That opened to the sun
Until the tender Carpenter
Perpetual nail it down --
A Happy Lip -- Breaks Sudden- A happy lip -- breaks sudden --
It doesn't state you how
It contemplated -- smiling --
Just consummated -- now --
But this one, wears its merriment
So patient -- like a pain --
Fresh gilded -- to elude the eyes
Unqualified, to scan --
A House Upon The Height- A House upon the Height --
That Wagon never reached --
No Dead, were ever carried down --
No Peddler's Cart -- approached --
Whose Chimney never smoked --
Whose Windows -- Night and Morn --
Caught Sunrise first -- and Sunset -- last --
Then -- held an Empty Pane --
Whose fate -- Conjecture knew --
No other neighbor -- did --
And what it was -- we never lisped --
Because He -- never told --
A Lady Red -- Amid The Hill- A Lady red -- amid the Hill
Her annual secret keeps!
A Lady white, within the Field
In placid Lily sleeps!
The tidy Breezes, with their Brooms --
Sweep vale -- and hill -- and tree!
Prithee, My pretty Housewives!
Who may expected be?
The Neighbors do not yet suspect!
The Woods exchange a smile!
Orchard, and Buttercup, and Bird --
In such a little while!
And yet, how still the Landscape stands!
How nonchalant the Hedge!
As if the "Resurrection"
Were nothing very strange!
A Lane Of Yellow Led The Eye- A lane of Yellow led the eye
Unto a Purple Wood
Whose soft inhabitants to be
Surpasses solitude
If Bird the silence contradict
Or flower presume to show
In that low summer of the West
Impossible to know --
A Light Exists In Spring- A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period --
When March is scarcely here
A Color stands abroad
On Solitary Fields
That Science cannot overtake
But Human Nature feels.
It waits upon the Lawn,
It shows the furthest Tree
Upon the furthest Slope you know
It almost speaks to you.
Then as Horizons step
Or Noons report away
Without the Formula of sound
It passes and we stay --
A quality of loss
Affecting our Content
As Trade had suddenly encroached
Upon a Sacrament.
A Little Bread -- A Crust -- A Crumb- A little bread -- a crust -- a crumb --
A little trust -- a demijohn --
Can keep the soul alive --
Not portly, mind! but breathing -- warm --
Conscious -- as old Napoleon,
The night before the Crown!
A modest lot -- A fame petite --
A brief Campaign of sting and sweet
Is plenty! Is enough!
A Sailor's business is the shore!
A Soldier's -- balls! Who asketh more,
Must seek the neighboring life!
A Little Dog That Wags His Tail- A little Dog that wags his tail
And knows no other joy
Of such a little Dog am I
Reminded by a Boy
Who gambols all the living Day
Without an earthly cause
Because he is a little Boy
I honestly suppose --
The Cat that in the Corner dwells
Her martial Day forgot
The Mouse but a Tradition now
Of her desireless Lot
Another class remind me
Who neither please nor play
But not to make a "bit of noise"
Beseech each little Boy --
A Little East Of Jordan- A little East of Jordan,
Evangelists record,
A Gymnast and an Angel
Did wrestle long and hard --
Till morning touching mountain --
And Jacob, waxing strong,
The Angel begged permission
To Breakfast -- to return --
Not so, said cunning Jacob!
"I will not let thee go
Except thou bless me" -- Stranger!
The which acceded to --
Light swung the silver fleeces
"Peniel" Hills beyond,
And the bewildered Gymnast
Found he had worsted God!
A Little Madness In The Spring- A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown --
Who ponders this tremendous scene --
This whole Experiment of Green --
As if it were his own!
A Little Overflowing Word- A little overflowing word
That any, hearing, had inferred
For Ardor or for Tears,
Though Generations pass away,
Traditions ripen and decay,
As eloquent appears --
A Little Road -- Not Made Of Man- A little Road -- not made of Man --
Enabled of the Eye --
Accessible to Thill of Bee --
Or Cart of Butterfly --
If Town it have -- beyond itself --
'Tis that -- I cannot say --
I only know -- no Curricle that rumble there
Bear Me --
A Little Snow Was Here And There- A little Snow was here and there
Disseminated in her Hair --
Since she and I had met and played
Decade had gathered to Decade --
But Time had added not obtained
Impregnable the Rose
For summer too indelible
Too obdurate for Snows --
A Long -- Long Sleep -- A famous -- Sleep- A long -- long Sleep -- A famous -- Sleep --
That makes no show for Morn --
By Stretch of Limb -- or stir of Lid --
An independent One --
Was ever idleness like This?
Upon a Bank of Stone
To bask the Centuries away --
Nor once look up -- for Noon?
A Loss Of Something Ever Felt I- A loss of something ever felt I --
The first that I could recollect
Bereft I was -- of what I knew not
Too young that any should suspect
A Mourner walked among the children
I notwithstanding went about
As one bemoaning a Dominion
Itself the only Prince cast out --
Elder, Today, a session wiser
And fainter, too, as Wiseness is --
I find myself still softly searching
For my Delinguent Palaces --
And a Suspicion, like a Finger
Touches my Forehead now and then
That I am looking oppositely
For the site of the Kingdom of Heaven --
A Man May Make A Remark- A Man may make a Remark --
In itself -- a quiet thing
That may furnish the Fuse unto a Spark
In dormant nature -- lain --
Let us deport -- with skill --
Let us discourse -- with care --
Powder exists in Charcoal --
Before it exists in Fire.
A Mien To Move A Queen- A Mien to move a Queen --
Half Child -- Half Heroine --
An Orleans in the Eye
That puts its manner by
For humbler Company
When none are near
Even a Tear --
Its frequent Visitor --
A Bonnet like a Duke --
And yet a Wren's Peruke
Were not so shy
Of Goer by --
And Hands -- so slight --
They would elate a Sprite
With Merriment --
A Voice that Alters -- Low
And on the Ear can go
Like Let of Snow --
Or shift supreme --
As tone of Realm
On Subjects Diadem --
Too small -- to fear --
Too distant -- to endear --
And so Men Compromise
And just -- revere --
A Mine There Is No Man Would Own- A Mine there is no Man would own
But must it be conferred,
Demeaning by exclusive wealth
A Universe beside --
Potosi never to be spent
But hoarded in the mind
What Misers wring their hands tonight
For Indies in the Ground!
A Moth The Hue Of This- A Moth the hue of this
Haunts Candles in Brazil.
Nature's Experience would make
Our Reddest Second pale.
Nature is fond, I sometimes think,
Of Trinkets, as a Girl.
A Murmur In The Trees -- To Note- A Murmur in the Trees -- to note --
Not loud enough -- for Wind --
A Star -- not far enough to seek --
Nor near enough -- to find --
A long -- long Yellow -- on the Lawn --
A Hubbub -- as of feet --
Not audible -- as Ours -- to Us --
But dapperer -- More Sweet --
A Hurrying Home of little Men
To Houses unperceived --
All this -- and more -- if I should tell --
Would never be believed --
Of Robins in the Trundle bed
How many I espy
Whose Nightgowns could not hide the Wings --
Although I heard them try --
But then I promised ne'er to tell --
How could I break My Word?
So go your Way -- and I'll go Mine --
No fear you'll miss the Road.
A Narrow Fellow In The Grass- A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides --
You may have met Him -- did you not
His notice sudden is --
The Grass divides as with a Comb --
A spotted shaft is seen --
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on --
He likes a Boggy Acre
A Floor too cool for Corn --
Yet when a Boy, and Barefoot --
I more than once at Noon
Have passed, I thought, a Whip lash
Unbraiding in the Sun
When stooping to secure it
It wrinkled, and was gone --
Several of Nature's People
I know, and they know me --
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality --
But never met this Fellow
Attended, or alone
Without a tighter breathing
And Zero at the Bone --
A Nearness To Tremendousness- A nearness to Tremendousness --
An Agony procures --
Affliction ranges Boundlessness --
Vicinity to Laws
Contentment's quiet Suburb --
Affliction cannot stay
In Acres -- Its Location
Is Illocality --
A Night -- There Lay The Days Between- A Night -- there lay the Days between --
The Day that was Before --
And Day that was Behind -- were one --
And now -- 'twas Night -- was here --
Slow -- Night -- that must be watched away --
As Grains upon a shore --
Too imperceptible to note --
Till it be night -- no more --
A Pang Is More Conspicuous In Spring- A Pang is more conspicuous in Spring
In contrast with the things that sing
Not Birds entirely -- but Minds --
Minute Effulgencies and Winds --
When what they sung for is undone
Who cares about a Blue Bird's Tune --
Why, Resurrection had to wait
Till they had moved a Stone --
A Pit -- But Heaven Over It- A Pit -- but Heaven over it --
And Heaven beside, and Heaven abroad,
And yet a Pit --
With Heaven over it.
To stir would be to slip --
To look would be to drop --
To dream -- to sap the Prop
That holds my chances up.
Ah! Pit! With Heaven over it!
The depth is all my thought --
I dare not ask my feet --
'Twould start us where we sit
So straight you'd scarce suspect
It was a Pit -- with fathoms under it --
Its Circuit just the same.
Seed -- summer -- tomb --
Whose Doom to whom?
A Planted Life -- Diversified- A Planted Life -- diversified
With Gold and Silver Pain
To prove the presence of the Ore
In Particles -- 'tis when
A Value struggle -- it exist --
A Power -- will proclaim
Although Annihilation pile
Whole Chaoses on Him --
A Poor -- Torn Heart -- A Tattered Heart- A poor -- torn heart -- a tattered heart --
That sat it down to rest --
Nor noticed that the Ebbing Day
Flowed silver to the West --
Nor noticed Night did soft descend --
Nor Constellation burn --
Intent upon the vision
Of latitudes unknown.
The angels -- happening that way
This dusty heart espied --
Tenderly took it up from toil
And carried it to God --
There -- sandals for the Barefoot --
There -- gathered from the gales --
Do the blue havens by the hand
Lead the wandering Sails.
A Precious -- Mouldering Pleasure -- 'Tis- A precious -- mouldering pleasure -- 'tis --
To meet an Antique Book --
In just the Dress his Century wore --
A privilege -- I think --
His venerable Hand to take --
And warming in our own --
A passage back -- or two -- to make --
To Times when he -- was young --
His quaint opinions -- to inspect --
His thought to ascertain
On Themes concern our mutual mind --
The Literature of Man --
What interested Scholars -- most --
What Competitions ran --
When Plato -- was a Certainty --
And Sophocles -- a Man --
When Sappho -- was a living Girl --
And Beatrice wore
The Gown that Dante -- deified --
Facts Centuries before
He traverses -- familiar --
As One should come to Town --
And tell you all your Dreams -- were true --
He lived -- where Dreams were born --
His presence is Enchantment --
You beg him not to go --
Old Volume shake their Vellum Heads
And tantalize -- just so --
A Prison Gets To Be A Friend- A Prison gets to be a friend --
Between its Ponderous face
And Ours -- a Kinsmanship express --
And in its narrow Eyes --
We come to look with gratitude
For the appointed Beam
It deal us -- stated as our food --
And hungered for -- the same --
We learn to know the Planks --
That answer to Our feet --
So miserable a sound -- at first --
Nor ever now -- so sweet --
As plashing in the Pools --
When Memory was a Boy --
But a Demurer Circuit --
A Geometric Joy --
The Posture of the Key
That interrupt the Day
To Our Endeavor -- Not so real
The Check of Liberty --
As this Phantasm Steel --
Whose features -- Day and Night --
Are present to us -- as Our Own --
And as escapeless -- quite --
The narrow Round -- the Stint --
The slow exchange of Hope --
For something passiver -- Content
Too steep for lookinp up --
The Liberty we knew
Avoided -- like a Dream --
Too wide for any Night but Heaven --
If That -- indeed -- redeem --
A Prompt -- Executive Bird Is The Jay- A prompt -- executive Bird is the Jay --
Bold as a Bailiff's Hymn --
Brittle and Brief in quality --
Warrant in every line --
Sitting a Bough like a Brigadier
Confident and straight --
Much is the mien of him in March
As a Magistrate --
A Rat Surrendered Here- A Rat surrendered here
A brief career of Cheer
And Fraud and Fear.
Of Ignominy's due
Let all addicted to
Beware.
The most obliging Trap
Its tendency to snap
Cannot resist --
Temptation is the Friend
Repugnantly resigned
At last.
A Route Of Evanescence- A Route of Evanescence
With a revolving Wheel --
A Resonance of Emerald --
A Rush of Cochineal --
And every Blossom on the Bush
Adjusts its tumbled Head --
The mail from Tunis, probably,
An easy Morning's Ride --
A Saucer Holds A Cup- A Saucer holds a Cup
In sordid human Life
But in a Squirrel's estimate
A Saucer hold a Loaf.
A Table of a Tree
Demands the little King
And every Breeze that run along
His Dining Room do swing.
His Cutlery -- he keeps
Within his Russer Lips --
To see it flashing when he dines
Do Birmingham eclipse --
Convicted -- could we be
Of our Minutiae
The smallest Citizen that flies
Is heartier than we --
A Science -- So The Savants Say- A science -- so the Savants say,
"Comparative Anatomy" --
By which a single bone --
Is made a secret to unfold
Of some rare tenant of the mold,
Else perished in the stone --
So to the eye prospective led,
This meekest flower of the mead
Upon a winter's day,
Stands representative in gold
Of Rose and Lily, manifold,
And countless Butterfly!
A Secret Told- A Secret told --
Ceases to be a Secret -- then --
A Secret -- kept --
That -- can appal but One --
Better of it -- continual be afraid --
Than it --
And Whom you told it to -- beside --
A Sepal, Petal, And A Thorn- A sepal, petal, and a thorn
Upon a common summer's morn --
A flask of Dew -- A Bee or two --
A Breeze -- a caper in the trees --
And I'm a Rose!
A Shade Upon The Mind There Passes- A Shade upon the mind there passes
As when on Noon
A Cloud the mighty Sun encloses
Remembering
That some there be too numb to notice
Oh God
Why give if Thou must take away
The Loved?
A Shady Friend -- For Torrid Days- A shady friend -- for Torrid days --
Is easier to find --
Than one of higher temperature
For Frigid -- hour of Mind --
The Vane a little to the East --
Scares Muslin souls -- away --
If Broadcloth Hearts are firmer --
Than those of Organdy --
Who is to blame? The Weaver?
Ah, the bewildering thread!
The Tapestries of Paradise
So notelessly -- are made!
A Sickness Of This World It Most Occasions- A Sickness of this World it most occasions
When Best Men die.
A Wishfulness their far Condition
To occupy.
A Chief indifference, as Foreign
A World must be
Themselves forsake -- contented,
For Deity.
A Single Clover Plank- A single Clover Plank
Was all that saved a Bee
A Bee I personally knew
From sinking in the sky --
'Twixt Firmament above
And Firmament below
The Billows of Circumference
Were sweeping him away --
The idly swaying Plank
Responsible to nought
A sudden Freight of Wind assumed
And Bumble Bee was not --
This harrowing event
Transpiring in the Grass
Did not so much as wring from him
A wandering "Alas" --
A Single Screw Of Flesh- A single Screw of Flesh
Is all that pins the Soul
That stands for Deity, to Mine,
Upon my side the Veil --
Once witnessed of the Gauze --
Its name is put away
As far from mine, as if no plight
Had printed yesterday,
In tender -- solemn Alphabet,
My eyes just turned to see,
When it was smuggled by my sight
Into Eternity --
More Hands -- to hold -- These are but Two --
One more new-mailed Nerve
Just granted, for the Peril's sake --
Some striding -- Giant -- Love --
So greater than the Gods can show,
They slink before the Clay,
That not for all their Heaven can boast
Will let its Keepsake -- go
A Slash Of Blue- A slash of Blue --
A sweep of Gray --
Some scarlet patches on the way,
Compose an Evening Sky --
A little purple -- slipped between --
Some Ruby Trousers hurried on --
A Wave of Gold --
A Bank of Day --
This just makes out the Morning Sky.
A Sloop Of Amber Slips Away- A Sloop of Amber slips away
Upon an Ether Sea,
And wrecks in Peace a Purple Tar,
The Son of Ecstasy --
A Soft Sea Washed Around The House- A soft Sea washed around the House
A Sea of Summer Air
And rose and fell the magic Planks
That sailed without a care --
For Captain was the Butterfly
For Helmsman was the Bee
And an entire universe
For the delighted crew.
A Solemn Thing -- It Was -- I Said- A solemn thing -- it was -- I said --
A woman -- white -- to be --
And wear -- if God should count me fit --
Her blameless mystery --
A hallowed thing -- to drop a life
Into the purple well --
Too plummetless -- that it return --
Eternity -- until --
I pondered how the bliss would look --
And would it feel as big --
When I could take it in my hand --
As hovering -- seen -- through fog --
And then -- the size of this "small" life --
The Sages -- call it small --
Swelled -- like Horizons -- in my vest --
And I sneered -- softly -- "small"!
A Solemn Thing Within The Soul- A Solemn thing within the Soul
To feel itself get ripe --
And golden hang -- while farther up --
The Maker's Ladders stop --
And in the Orchard far below --
You hear a Being -- drop --
A Wonderful -- to feel the Sun
Still toiling at the Cheek
You thought was finished --
Cool of eye, and critical of Work --
He shifts the stem -- a little --
To give your Core -- a look --
But solemnest -- to know
Your chance in Harvest moves
A little nearer -- Every Sun
The Single -- to some lives.
A Something In A Summer's Day- A something in a summer's Day
As slow her flambeaux burn away
Which solemnizes me.
A something in a summer's noon --
A depth -- an Azure -- a perfume --
Transcending ecstasy.
And still within a summer's night
A something so transporting bright
I clap my hands to see --
Then veil my too inspecting face
Lets such a subtle -- shimmering grace
Flutter too far for me --
The wizard fingers never rest --
The purple brook within the breast
Still chafes it narrow bed --
Still rears the East her amber Flag --
Guides still the sun along the Crag
His Caravan of Red --
So looking on -- the night -- the morn
Conclude the wonder gay --
And I meet, coming thro' the dews
Another summer's Day!
A South Wind -- Has A Pathos- A South Wind -- has a pathos
Of individual Voice --
As One detect on Landings
An Emigrant's address.
A Hint of Ports and Peoples --
And much not understood --
The fairer -- for the farness --
And for the foreignhood.
A Sparrow Took A Slice Of Twig- A Sparrow took a Slice of Twig
And thought it very nice
I think, because his empty Plate
Was handed Nature twice --
Invigorated, waded
In all the deepest Sky
Until his little Figure
Was forfeited away --
A Spider Sewed At Night- A Spider sewed at Night
Without a Light
Upon an Arc of White.
If Ruff it was of Dame
Or Shroud of Gnome
Himself himself inform.
Of Immortality
His Strategy
Was Physiognomy.
A Stagnant Pleasure Like A Pool- A stagnant pleasure like a Pool
That lets its Rushes grow
Until they heedless tumble in
And make the Water slow
Impeding navigation bright
Of Shadows going down
Yet even this shall rouse itself
When freshets come along.
A Still -- Volcano -- Life- A still -- Volcano -- Life --
That flickered in the night --
When it was dark enough to do
Without erasing sight --
A quiet -- Earthquake Style --
Too subtle to suspect
By natures this side Naples --
The North cannot detect
The Solemn -- Torrid -- Symbol --
The lips that never lie --
Whose hissing Corals part -- and shut --
And Cities -- ooze away --
A Thought Went Up My Mind Today- A Thought went up my mind today --
That I have had before --
But did not finish -- some way back --
I could not fix the Year --
Nor where it went -- nor why it came
The second time to me --
Nor definitely, what it was --
Have I the Art to say --
But somewhere -- in my Soul -- I know --
I've met the Thing before --
It just reminded me -- 'twas all --
And came my way no more --
A Throe Upon The Features- A throe upon the features --
A hurry in the breath --
An ecstasy of parting
Denominated "Death" --
An anguish at the mention
Which when to patience grown,
I've known permission given
To rejoin its own.
A Toad, Can Die Of Light- A Toad, can die of Light --
Death is the Common Right
Of Toads and Men --
Of Earl and Midge
The privilege --
Why swagger, then?
The Gnat's supremacy is large as Thine --
Life -- is a different Thing --
So measure Wine --
Naked of Flask -- Naked of Cask --
Bare Rhine --
Which Ruby's mine?
A Tongue -- To Tell Him I Am True- A Tongue -- to tell Him I am true!
Its fee -- to be of Gold --
Had Nature -- in Her monstrous House
A single Ragged Child --
To earn a Mine -- would run
That Interdicted Way,
And tell Him -- Charge thee speak it plain --
That so far -- Truth is True?
And answer What I do --
Beginning with the Day
That Night -- begun --
Nay -- Midnight -- 'twas --
Since Midnight -- happened -- say --
If once more -- Pardon -- Boy --
The Magnitude thou may
Enlarge my Message -- If too vast
Another Lad -- help thee --
Thy Pay -- in Diamonds -- be --
And His -- in solid Gold --
Say Rubies -- if He hesitate --
My Message -- must be told --
Say -- last I said -- was This --
That when the Hills -- come down --
And hold no higher than the Plain --
My Bond -- have just begun --
And when the Heavens -- disband --
And Deity conclude --
Then -- look for me. Be sure you say --
Least Figure -- on the Road --
A Tooth Upon Our Peace- A Tooth upon Our Peace
The Peace cannot deface --
Then Wherefore be the Tooth?
To vitalize the Grace --
The Heaven hath a Hell --
Itself to signalize --
And every sign before the Place
Is Gilt with Sacrifice --
A Train Went Through A Burial Gate- A train went through a burial gate,
A bird broke forth and sang,
And trilled, and quivered, and shook his throat
Till all the churchyard rang;
And then adjusted his little notes,
And bowed and sang again.
Doubtless, he thought it meet of him
To say good-by to men.