Dictionary Poems

When I get to be a composerI’m gonna write me some music aboutDaybreak in AlabamaAnd I’m gonna put the purtiest songs in itRising out of the ground like a swamp mistAnd falling out of heaven like soft dew.I’m gonna put some tall tall trees in itAnd the scent of pine needlesAnd the smell of red … Continued

And a man said, Speak to us of Self-Knowledge. And he answered, saying: Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights. But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge. You would know in words that which you have always know in thought. You would touch with your … Continued

I gave myself to him,And took himself for pay.The solemn contract of a lifeWas ratified this way. The wealth might disappoint,Myself a poorer proveThan this great purchaser suspect,The daily own of Love Depreciate the vision;But, till the merchant buy,Still fable, in the isles of spice,The subtle cargoes lie. At least, ‘t is mutual risk, —Some … Continued

She slept beneath a tree Remembered but by me.I touched her cradle mute;She recognized the foot,Put on her carmine suit, — And see! – THE TULIP – She slept beneath a tree by Emily Dickinson

Before you thought of spring,Except as a surmise,You see, God bless his suddenness,A fellow in the skiesOf independent hues,A little weather-worn,Inspiriting habilimentsOf indigo and brown. With specimens of song,As if for you to choose,Discretion in the interval,With gay delays he goesTo some superior treeWithout a single leaf,And shouts for joy to nobodyBut his seraphic self! … Continued

Some rainbow coming from the fair!Some vision of the world CashmereI confidently see!Or else a peacock’s purple train,Feather by feather, on the plainFritters itself away! The dreamy butterflies bestir,Lethargic pools resume the whirOf last year’s sundered tune.From some old fortress on the sunBaronial bees march, one by one,In murmuring platoon! The robins stand as thick … Continued

I envy not in any moodsThe captive void of noble rage,The linnet born within the cage,That never knew the summer woods: I envy not the beast that takesHis license in the field of time,Unfetter’d by the sense of crime,To whom a conscience never wakes; Nor, what may count itself as blest,The heart that never plighted … Continued

His frown brought terror to his foes, But now in twilight of his daysThe pure perfection of a rose Can kindle rapture in his gaze.Where once he swung the sword of wrath And peoples trembled at his word,With hoe he trims a pansied path And listens to a bird. His large of life was lived … Continued

I have a house I’ve lived in long:I can’t recall my going in.‘Twere better bartered for a songEre ruin, rot and rust begin.When it was fresh and fine and fair,I used it with neglect, I fear;But now I husband it with careAnd cherish it from year to year. Oh do not put it to the … Continued

THE Duties of the Wind are few–To cast the Ships at sea,Establish March,The Floods escort,And usher Liberty. – THE Duties of the Wind are few by Emily Dickinson