Poems by Emily Dickinson
Table of Contents
This is my letter to the world,
That never wrote to me, --
The simple news that Nature told,
With tender majesty.
Her message is committed
To hands I cannot see;
For love of her, sweet countrymen,
Judge tenderly of me!
I. LIFE.
I.
SUCCESS.
Success is counted sweetest
II.
Our
share of night to bear,
III.
ROUGE
ET NOIR. Soul, wilt thou toss again?
IV.
ROUGE
GAGNE. 'T is so much joy! 'T is so much joy!
V.
Glee!
The great storm is over!
VI.
If
I can stop one heart from breaking,
VII.
ALMOST!
Within my reach!
VIII.
A
wounded deer leaps highest,
IX.
The
heart asks pleasure first,
X.
IN
A LIBRARY. A precious, mouldering pleasure 't is
XI.
Much
madness is divinest sense
XII.
I
asked no other thing,
XIII.
EXCLUSION.
The soul selects her own society,
XIV.
THE
SECRET. Some things that fly there be, --
XV.
THE
LONELY HOUSE. I know some lonely houses off the road
XVI.
To
fight aloud is very brave,
XVII.
DAWN.
When night is almost done,
XVIII.
THE
BOOK OF MARTYRS. Read, sweet, how others strove,
XIX.
THE
MYSTERY OF PAIN. Pain has an element of blank;
XX.
I
taste a liquor never brewed,
XXI.
A
BOOK. He ate and drank the precious words,
XXII.
I
had no time to hate, because
XXIII.
UNRETURNING.
'T was such a little, little boat
XXIV.
Whether
my bark went down at sea,
XXV.
Belshazzar
had a letter, --
XXVI.
The
brain within its groove
II. LOVE.
I.
MINE.
Mine by the right of the white election!
II.
BEQUEST.
You left me, sweet, two legacies, --
III.
Alter?
When the hills do.
IV.
SUSPENSE.
Elysium is as far as to
V.
SURRENDER.
Doubt me, my dim companion!
VI.
IF
you were coming in the fall,
VII.
WITH
A FLOWER. I hide myself within my flower,
VIII.
PROOF.
That I did always love,
IX.
Have
you got a brook in your little heart,
X.
TRANSPLANTED.
As if some little Arctic flower,
XI.
THE
OUTLET. My river runs to thee:
XII.
IN VAIN.
I CANNOT live with you,
XIII.
RENUNCIATION.
There came a day at summer's full
XIV.
LOVE'S
BAPTISM. I'm ceded, I've stopped being theirs;
XV.
RESURRECTION. 'T was a long parting, but the time
XVI.
APOCALYPSE.
I'm wife; I've finished that,
XVII.
THE WIFE. She
rose to his requirement, dropped
XVIII.
APOTHEOSIS. Come
slowly, Eden!
III. NATURE.
I.
New
feet within my garden go,
II.
MAY-FLOWER. Pink,
small, and punctual,
III.
WHY?
THE murmur of a bee
IV.
Perhaps
you'd like to buy a flower?
V.
The
pedigree of honey
VI.
A SERVICE OF SONG. Some
keep the Sabbath going to church;
VII.
The
bee is not afraid of me,
VIII.
SUMMER'S ARMIES. Some
rainbow coming from the fair!
IX.
THE GRASS. The
grass so little has to do, --
X.
A
little road not made of man,
XI.
SUMMER SHOWER. A
drop fell on the apple tree,
XII.
PSALM OF THE DAY. A
something in a summer's day,
XIII.
THE
SEA OF SUNSET. This is the land the sunset washes,
XIV.
PURPLE CLOVER. There
is a flower that bees prefer,
XV.
THE
BEE. Like trains of cars on tracks of plush
XVI.
Presentiment
is that long shadow on the lawn
XVII.
As
children bid the guest good-night,
XVIII.
ngels
in the early morning
XIX.
So
bashful when I spied her,
XX.
TWO
WORLDS. It makes no difference abroad,
XXI.
THE MOUNTAIN. The
mountain sat upon the plain
XXII.
A DAY. I'll
tell you how the sun rose, --
XXIII.
The
butterfiy's assumption-gown,
XXIV.
THE WIND. Of
all the sounds despatched abroad,
XXV.
DEATH
AND LIFE. Apparently with no surprise
XXVI.
'T
WAS later when the summer went
XXVII.
INDIAN
SUMMER. These are the days when birds come back,
XXVIII.
AUTUMN.
The morns are meeker than they were,
XXIX.
BECLOUDED. The
sky is low, the clouds are mean,
XXX.
THE
HEMLOCK. I think the hemlock likes to stand
XXXI.
There's
a certain slant of light,
IV. TIME AND ETERNITY.
I.
One
dignity delays for all,
II.
TOO LATE. Delayed
till she had ceased to know,
III.
ASTRA CASTRA. Departed
to the judgment,
IV.
Safe
in their alabaster chambers,
V.
On
this long storm the rainbow rose,
VI.
FROM THE CHRYSALIS. My
cocoon tightens, colors tease,
VII.
SETTING SAIL. Exultation
is the going
VIII.
Look
back on time with kindly eyes,
IX.
A
train went through a burial gate,
X.
I
died for beauty, but was scarce
XI.
"TROUBLED ABOUT MANY THINGS." How
many times these low feet staggered,
XII.
REAL. I
like a look of agony,
XIII.
THE FUNERAL. That
short, potential stir
XIV.
I
went to thank her,
XV.
I've
seen a dying eye
XVI.
REFUGE. The
clouds their backs together laid,
XVII.
I
never saw a moor,
XVIII.
PLAYMATES.
God permits industrious angels
XIX.
To
know just how he suffered would be dear;
XX.
The
last night that she lived,
XXI.
THE FIRST LESSON. Not
in this world to see his face
XXII.
The
bustle in a house
XXIII.
I
reason, earth is short,
XXIV.
Afraid?
Of whom am I afraid?
XXV.
DYING. The
sun kept setting, setting still;
XXVI.
Two
swimmers wrestled on the spar
XXVII.
THE CHARIOT. Because
I could not stop for Death,
XXVIII.
She
went as quiet as the dew
XXIX.
RESURGAM.
At last to be identified!
XXX.
Except
to heaven, she is nought;
XXXI.
Death
is a dialogue between
XXXII.
It
was too late for man,
XXXIII.
ALONG THE POTOMAC. When
I was small, a woman died.
XXXIV.
The
daisy follows soft the sun,
XXXV.
EMANCIPATION. No
rack can torture me,
XXXVI.
LOST. I
lost a world the other day.
XXXVII.
If
I shouldn't be alive
XXXVIII.
Sleep
is supposed to be,
XXXIX.
I
shall know why, when time is over,
XL.
I never lost as much but twice,
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