Dictionary Poems

Pigmy seraphs gone astray,Velvet people from Vevay,Belles from some lost summer day,Bees’ exclusive coterie.Paris could not lay the foldBelted down with emerald;Venice could not show a cheekOf a tint so lustrous meek.Never such an ambuscadeAs of brier and leaf displayedFor my little damask maid.I had rather wear her graceThan an earl’s distinguished face;I had rather … Continued

I see thine image through my tears to-night,And yet to-day I saw thee smiling. HowRefer the cause?–Beloved, is it thouOr I, who makes me sad? The acolyteAmid the chanted joy and thankful riteMay so fall flat, with pale insensate brow,On the altar-stair. I hear thy voice and vow,Perplexed, uncertain, since thou art out of sight,As … Continued

Here is this vale of sweet abiding,My ultimate and dulcet home,That gently dreams above the chidingof restless and impatient foam;Beyond the hazards of hell weather,The harceling of wind and sea,With timbers morticed tight togetherMy old hulk havens happily. The dawn exultantly disclosesMy lawn lit with mimosa gold;The joy of January rosesIs with me when rich … Continued

When I attain to utter forth in verseSome inward thought, my soul throbs audiblyAlong my pulses, yearning to be freeAnd something farther, fuller, higher, rehearseTo the individual, true, and the universe,In consummation of right harmony:But, like a wind-exposed distorted tree,We are blown against for ever by the curseWhich breathes through Nature. Oh, the world is … Continued

PERCEPTION of an Object costsPrecise the Object’s loss.Perception in itself a gainReplying to its price;The Object Absolute is nought,Perception sets it fair,And then upbraids a PerfectnessThat situates so far. – PERCEPTION of an by Emily Dickinson

Doubt me, my dim companion!Why, God would be contentWith but a fraction of the lovePoured thee without a stint.The whole of me, forever,What more the woman can, —Say quick, that I may dower theeWith last delight I own! It cannot be my spirit,For that was thine before;I ceded all of dust I knew, —What opulence … Continued

At half-past three a single birdUnto a silent skyPropounded but a single termOf cautious melody. At half-past four, experimentHad subjugated test,And lo! her silver principleSupplanted all the rest. At half-past seven, elementNor implement was seen,And place was where the presence was,Circumference between. – At half-past three a single bird by Emily Dickinson

Out here there are no hearthstones,Hot grains, simply. It is dry, dry.And the air dangerous. Noonday acts queerlyOn the mind’s eye erecting a lineOf poplars in the middle distance, the onlyObject beside the mad, straight roadOne can remember men and houses by.A cool wind should inhabit these leavesAnd a dew collect on them, dearer than … Continued

Remorse is memory awake,Her companies astir, —A presence of departed actsAt window and at door. It’s past set down before the soul,And lighted with a match,Perusal to facilitateOf its condensed despatch. Remorse is cureless, — the diseaseNot even God can heal;For ‘t is his institution, —The complement of hell. – REMORSE – Remorse is memory … Continued

ALL circumstances are the frameIn which His Face is set,All Latitudes exist for HisSufficient continent. The light His Action and the darkThe Leisure of His Will,In Him Existence serve, or setA force illegible. – ALL circumstances are the frame by Emily Dickinson