Tag: Time and Eternity

• Notes for Emily Dickinson’s poetry

  FASCICLES and print, the poetic correlative with Webster 1828, Latin and Greek inspiration, an Aristotelian motif: Things perpetual — these are not in time, but in eternity. More→

• Index, Time and Eternity

  LINKS to poems in first print order, One Dignity, Too Late, Astra Castra, Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers… More→

• One Dignity

  ONE dignity delays for all, One mitred afternoon. None can avoid this purple, None evade this crown. More→

• Too Late

  DELAYED, till she had ceased to know,Delayed, till in its vest of snowHer loving bosom lay;An hour behind the fleeting breath,Later by just an hour than death —Oh, lagging yesterday! More→

• Astra Castra

  DEPARTED to the judgment,A mighty afternoon;Great clouds like ushers leaning,Creation looking on. More→

• Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers

  SAFE in their alabaster chambers,Untouched by morning and untouched by noon,Sleep the meek members of the resurrection,Rafter of satin, and roof of stone. More→

• On This Long Storm

  ON this long storm the rainbow rose,On this late morn the sun;The clouds, like listless elephants,Horizons straggled down. More→

• From the Chrysalis

  MY cocoon tightens, colors tease,I’m feeling for the air;A dim capacity for wingsDegrades the dress I wear. More→

• Setting Sail

  EXULTATION is the goingOf an inland soul to sea —Past the houses, past the headlands,Into deep eternity! More→

• Look Back on Time with Kindly Eyes

  LOOK back on time with kindly eyes, He doubtless did his best… More→

• A Train Went through a Burial Gate

  ATRAIN train went through a burial gate,A bird broke forth and sang,And trilled, and quivered, and shook his throatTill all the churchyard rang… More→

• I Died for Beauty

  IDIED for beauty, but was scarceAdjusted in the tomb,When one who died for truth was lainIn an adjoining room. More→

• About Many Things

  HOW many times these low feet staggered,Only the soldered mouth can tell;Try! can you stir the awful rivet?Try! can you lift the hasps of steel? More→

• Real

  ILIKE a look of agony,Because I know it’s true;Men do not sham convulsion,Nor simulate a throe. More→

• The Funeral

  THAT short, potential stirThat each can make, but once; That bustle so illustrious… More→

• I Went to Thank Her

  IWENT to thank her,But she slept;Her bed a funnelled stone,With nosegays at the head and foot… More→

• I’ve Seen a Dying Eye

  I’VE seen a dying eyeRun round and round a roomIn search of something, as it seemed… More→

• Refuge

  THE clouds their backs together laid,The north begun to push,The forests galloped till they fell,The lightning skipped like mice… Więcej→

• I Never Saw a Moor

  INEVER saw a moor,I never saw the sea;Yet know I how the heather looks,And what a wave must be. More→

• Playmates

  GOD permits industrious angelsAfternoons to play.I met one, — forgot my school-mates,All, for him, straightway. More→

• To Know Just How

  TO know just how he suffered would be dear;To know if any human eyes were nearTo whom he could intrust his wavering gaze,Until it settled firm on Paradise. More→

• The Last Night that She Lived

  THE last night that she lived, It was a common night, Except the dying; this to us Made nature different. We noticed smallest things — Things overlooked before, By this great light upon our minds Italicized, as ’t were. More→

• The First Lesson

  NOT in this world to see his face Sounds long, until I read the place Where this is said to be; But just the primer to a life Unopened, rare, upon the shelf, Clasped yet to him and me. More→

• The Bustle in a House

  THE bustle in a house The morning after death Is solemnest of industries Enacted upon earth — The sweeping up the heart… More→

• I Reason, Earth Is Short

  IREASON, earth is short, And anguish absolute, And many hurt; But what of that? More→

• Afraid?

  AFRAID? Of whom am I afraid? Not death; for who is he? The porter of my father’s lodge As much abasheth me. More→

• Dying

  THE sun kept setting, setting still; No hue of afternoon Upon the village I perceived — From house to house, ’t was noon. The dusk kept dropping, dropping still; No dew upon the grass, But only on my forehead stopped, And wandered in my face. More→

• Two Swimmers

  TWO swimmers wrestled on the spar Until the morning sun, When one turned smiling to the land. O God, the other one! More→

• The Chariot

  BECAUSE I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility. More→

• She Went as Quiet as the Dew

  SHE went as quiet as the dew From a familiar flower. Not like the dew did she return At the accustomed hour! More→

• Resurgam

  AT last to be identified! At last, the lamps upon thy side, The rest of life to see! More→

• Except to Heaven, She Is Nought

  EXCEPT to heaven, she is nought; Except for angels, lone; Except to some wide-wandering bee, A flower superfluous blown… More→

• Death Is a Dialogue

  DEATH is a dialogue between The spirit and the dust. “Dissolve,” says Death. The Spirit, “Sir, I have another trust.” More→

• It Was Too Late for Man

  IT was too late for man, But early yet for God; Creation impotent to help, But prayer remained our side. More→

• Along the Potomac

  WHEN I was small, a woman died. To-day her only boy Went up from the Potomac, His face all victory. To look at her; how slowly The seasons must have turned Till bullets clipt an angle, And he passed quickly round! More→

• The Daisy Follows Soft the Sun

  THE daisy follows soft the sun, And when his golden walk is done, Sits shyly at his feet. He, waking, finds the flower near. “Wherefore, marauder, art thou here?” “Because, sir, love is sweet!” More→

• Emancipation

  NO rack can torture me, My soul’s at liberty. Behind this mortal bone There knits a bolder one: You cannot prick with saw, Nor rend with scymitar. Two bodies therefore be; Bind one, and one will flee. More→

• Lost

  I LOST a world the other day. Has anybody found? You’ll know it by the row of stars Around its forehead bound. More→

• If I Shouldn’t Be Alive

  IF I shouldn’t be alive When the robins come, Give the one in red cravat A memorial crumb. More→

• Sleep Is Supposed to Be

  SLEEP is supposed to be, By souls of sanity, The shutting of the eye.Sleep is the station grand Down which on either hand The hosts of witness stand! More→

• I Shall Know Why

  I SHALL know why, when time is over, And I have ceased to wonder why; Christ will explain each separate anguish In the fair schoolroom of the sky. More→

• I Never Lost as Much but Twice

  I NEVER lost as much but twice, And that was in the sod; Twice have I stood a beggar Before the door of God! More→