Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

How pleased they were at what you said; You try to touch the smile, And dip your fingers in the frost: When was it, can you tell, You asked the company to tea, Acquaintance, just a few, And chatted close with this grand thing That don't remember you? Past bows and invitations, Past interview, and vow, Past what ourselves can estimate, -- That makes the quick of woe! XXII. THE JOURNEY. Our journey had advanced; Our feet were almost come To that odd fork in Being's road, Eternity by term. Our pace took sudden awe, Our feet reluctant led. Before were cities, but between, The forest of the dead. Retreat was out of hope, -- Behind, a sealed route, Eternity's white flag before, And God at every gate. XXIII. A COUNTRY BURIAL. Ample make this bed. Make this bed with awe; In it wait till judgment break Excellent and fair. Be its mattress straight, Be its pillow round; Let no sunrise' yellow noise Interrupt this ground. XXIV. GOING. On such a night, or such a night, Would anybody care If such a little figure Slipped quiet from its chair, So quiet, oh, how quiet! That nobody might know But that the little figure Rocked softer, to and fro? On such a dawn, or such a dawn, Would anybody sigh That such a little figure Too sound asleep did lie For chanticleer to wake it, -- Or stirring house below, Or giddy bird in orchard, Or early task to do? There was a little figure plump For every little knoll, Busy needles, and spools of thread, And trudging feet from school. Playmates, and holidays, and nuts, And visions vast and small. Strange that the feet so precious charged Should reach so small a goal! XXV. Essential oils are wrung: The attar from the rose Is not expressed by suns alone, It is the gift of screws. The general rose decays; But this, in lady's drawer, Makes summer when the lady lies In ceaseless rosemary. XXVI. I lived on dread; to those who know The stimulus there is In danger, other impetus Is numb and vital-less. As 't were a spur upon the soul, A fear will urge it where To go without the spectre's aid Were challenging despair. XXVII. If I should die, And you should live, And time should gurgle on, And morn should beam, And noon should burn, As it has usual done; If birds should build as early, And bees as bustling go, -- One might depart at option From enterprise below! 'T is sweet to know that stocks will stand When we with daisies lie, That commerce will continue, And trades as briskly fly. It makes the parting tranquil And keeps the soul serene, That gentlemen so sprightly Conduct the pleasing scene! XXVIII. AT LENGTH. Her final summer was it, And yet we guessed it not; If tenderer industriousness Pervaded her, we thought A further force of life Developed from within, -- When Death lit all the shortness up, And made the hurry plain. We wondered at our blindness, -- When nothing was to see But her Carrara guide-post, -- At our stupidity, When, duller than our dullness, The busy darling lay, So busy was she, finishing, So leisurely were we! XXIX. GHOSTS. One need not be a chamber to be haunted, One need not be a house; The brain has corridors surpassing Material place. Far safer, of a midnight meeting External ghost, Than an interior confronting That whiter host. Far safer through an Abbey gallop, The stones achase, Than, moonless, one's own self encounter In lonesome place. Ourself, behind ourself concealed, Should startle most; Assassin, hid in our apartment, Be horror's least. The prudent carries a revolver, He bolts the door, O'erlooking a superior spectre More near. XXX. VANISHED. She died, -- this was the way she died; And when her breath was done, Took up her simple wardrobe And started for the sun. Her little figure at the gate The angels must have spied, Since I could never find her Upon the mortal side. XXXI. PRECEDENCE. Wait till the majesty of Death Invests so mean a brow! Almost a powdered footman Might dare to touch it now! Wait till in everlasting robes This democrat is dressed, Then prate about "preferment" And "station" and the rest! Around this quiet courtier Obsequious angels wait! Full royal is his retinue, Full purple is his state! A lord might dare to lift the hat To such a modest clay, Since that my Lord, "the Lord of lords" Receives unblushingly! XXXII. GONE. Went up a year this evening! I recollect it well! Amid no bells nor bravos The bystanders will tell! Cheerful, as to the village, Tranquil, as to repose, Chastened, as to the chapel, This humble tourist rose. Did not talk of returning, Alluded to no time When, were the gales propitious, We might look for him; Was grateful for the roses In life's diverse bouquet, Talked softly of new species To pick another day. Beguiling thus the wonder, The wondrous nearer drew; Hands bustled at the moorings -- The crowd respectful grew. Ascended from our vision To countenances new! A difference, a daisy, Is all the rest I knew! XXXIII. REQUIEM. Taken from men this morning, Carried by men to-day, Met by the gods with banners Who marshalled her away. One little maid from playmates, One little mind from school, -- There must be guests in Eden; All the rooms are full. Far as the east from even, Dim as the border star, -- Courtiers quaint, in kingdoms, Our departed are. XXXIV. What inn is this Where for the night Peculiar traveller comes? Who is the landlord? Where the maids? Behold, what curious rooms! No ruddy fires on the hearth, No brimming tankards flow. Necromancer, landlord, Who are these below? XXXV. It was not death, for I stood up, And all the dead lie down; It was not night, for all the bells Put out their tongues, for noon. It was not frost, for on my flesh I felt siroccos crawl, -- Nor fire, for just my marble feet Could keep a chancel cool. And yet it tasted like them all; The figures I have seen Set orderly, for burial, Reminded me of mine, As if my life were shaven And fitted to a frame, And could not breathe without a key; And 't was like midnight, some, When everything that ticked has stopped, And space stares, all around, Or grisly frosts, first autumn morns, Repeal the beating ground. But most like chaos, -- stopless, cool, -- Without a chance or spar, Or even a report of land To justify despair. XXXVI. TILL THE END. I should not dare to leave my friend, Because -- because if he should die While I was gone, and I -- too late -- Should reach the heart that wanted me; If I should disappoint the eyes That hunted, hunted so, to see, And could not bear to shut until They "noticed" me -- they noticed me; If I should stab the patient faith So sure I 'd come -- so sure I 'd come, It listening, listening, went to sleep Telling my tardy name, -- My heart would wish it broke before, Since breaking then, since breaking then, Were useless as next morning's sun, Where midnight frosts had lain! XXXVII. VOID. Great streets of silence led away To neighborhoods of pause; Here was no notice, no dissent, No universe, no laws. By clocks 't was morning, and for night The bells at distance called; But epoch had no basis here, For period exhaled. XXXVIII. 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. XXXIX. SAVED! Of tribulation these are they Denoted by the white; The spangled gowns, a lesser rank Of victors designate. All these did conquer; but the ones Who overcame most times Wear nothing commoner than snow, No ornament but palms. Surrender is a sort unknown On this superior soil; Defeat, an outgrown anguish, Remembered as the mile Our panting ankle barely gained When night devoured the road; But we stood whispering in the house, And all we said was "Saved"! XL. I think just how my shape will rise When I shall be forgiven, Till hair and eyes and timid head Are out of sight, in heaven. I think just how my lips will weigh With shapeless, quivering prayer That you, so late, consider me, The sparrow of your care. I mind me that of anguish sent, Some drifts were moved away Before my simple bosom broke, -- And why not this, if they? And so, until delirious borne I con that thing, -- "forgiven," -- Till with long fright and longer trust I drop my heart, unshriven! XLI. THE FORGOTTEN GRAVE. After a hundred years Nobody knows the place, -- Agony, that enacted there, Motionless as peace. Weeds triumphant ranged, Strangers strolled and spelled At the lone orthography Of the elder dead. Winds of summer fields Recollect the way, -- Instinct picking up the key Dropped by memory. XLII. Lay this laurel on the one Too intrinsic for renown. Laurel! veil your deathless tree, -- Him you chasten, that is he! POEMS by EMILY DICKINSON Third Series Edited by MABEL LOOMIS TODD It's all I have to bring to-day, This, and my heart beside, This, and my heart, and all the fields, And all the meadows wide. Be sure you count, should I forget, -- Some one the sum could tell, -- This, and my heart, and all the bees Which in the clover dwell. PREFACE. The intellectual activity of Emily Dickinson was so great that a large and characteristic choice is still possible among her literary material, and this third volume of her verses is put forth in response to the repeated wish of the admirers of her peculiar genius. Much of Emily Dickinson's prose was rhythmic, --even rhymed, though frequently not set apart in lines. Also many verses, written as such, were sent to friends in letters; these were published in 1894, in the volumes of her _Letters_. It has not been necessary, however, to include them in this Series, and all have been omitted, except three or four exceptionally strong ones, as "A Book," and "With Flowers." There is internal evidence that many of the poems were simply spontaneous flashes of insight, apparently unrelated to outward circumstance. Others, however, had an obvious personal origin; for example, the verses "I had a Guinea golden," which seem to have been sent to some friend travelling in Europe, as a dainty reminder of letter-writing delinquencies. The surroundings in which any of Emily Dickinson's verses are known to have been written usually serve to explain them clearly; but in general the present volume is full of thoughts needing no interpretation to those who apprehend this scintillating spirit. M. L. T. AMHERST, _October_, 1896. I. LIFE. I. REAL RICHES. 'T is little I could care for pearls Who own the ample sea; Or brooches, when the Emperor With rubies pelteth me; Or gold, who am the Prince of Mines; Or diamonds, when I see A diadem to fit a dome Continual crowning me. II. SUPERIORITY TO FATE. Superiority to fate Is difficult to learn. 'T is not conferred by any, But possible to earn A pittance at a time, Until, to her surprise, The soul with strict economy Subsists till Paradise. III. HOPE. Hope is a subtle glutton; He feeds upon the fair; And yet, inspected closely, What abstinence is there! His is the halcyon table That never seats but one, And whatsoever is consumed The same amounts remain. IV.