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Poems by Emily Dickinson

Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

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[section]
  
[This is my letter to the world]
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I. LIFE.
 1. 
I. SUCCESS.
 2. 
[II. Our share of night to bear]
 3. 
III. ROUGE ET NOIR.
 4. 
IV. ROUGE GAGNE.
 5. 
[V. Glee! the great storm is over]
 6. 
[VI. If I can stop one heart from breaking]
 7. 
VII. ALMOST!
 8. 
[VIII. A wounded deer leaps highest]
 9. 
[IX. The heart asks pleasure first]
 10. 
X. IN A LIBRARY.
 11. 
[XI. Much madness is divinest sense]
 12. 
[XII. I asked no other thing]
 13. 
XIII. EXCLUSION.
 14. 
XIV. THE SECRET.
 15. 
XV. THE LONELY HOUSE.
 16. 
[XVI. To fight aloud is very brave]
 17. 
XVII. DAWN.
 18. 
XVIII. THE BOOK OF MARTYRS.
 19. 
XIX. THE MYSTERY OF PAIN.
 20. 
[XX. I taste a liquor never brewed]
 21. 
XXI. A BOOK.
 22. 
[XXII. I had no time to hate, because]
 23. 
XXIII. UNRETURNING.
 24. 
[XXIV. Whether my bark went down at sea,]
 25. 
[XXV. Belshazzar had a letter]
 26. 
[XXVI. The brain within its groove]
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II. LOVE.
 1. 
I. MINE.
 2. 
II. BEQUEST.
 3. 
[III. Alter? When the hills do]
 4. 
IV. SUSPENSE.
 5. 
V. SURRENDER.
 6. 
[VI. If you were coming in the fall]
 7. 
VII. WITH A FLOWER.
 8. 
VIII. PROOF.
 9. 
[IX. Have you got a brook in your little heart]
 10. 
X. TRANSPLANTED.
 11. 
XI. THE OUTLET.
 12. 
XII. IN VAIN.
 13. 
XIII. RENUNCIATION.
 14. 
XIV. LOVE'S BAPTISM.
 15. 
XV. RESURRECTION.
 16. 
XVI. APOCALYPSE.
 17. 
XVII. THE WIFE.
 18. 
XVIII. APOTHEOSIS.
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III. NATURE.
 1. 
[I. New feet within my garden go]
 2. 
II. MAY-FLOWER.
 3. 
III. WHY?
 4. 
[IV. Perhaps you'd like to buy a flower]
 5. 
[V. The pedigree of honey]
 6. 
VI. A SERVICE OF SONG.
 7. 
[VII. The bee is not afraid of me]
 8. 
VIII. SUMMER'S ARMIES.
 9. 
IX. THE GRASS.
 10. 
[X. A little road not made of man]
 11. 
XI. SUMMER SHOWER.
 12. 
XII. PSALM OF THE DAY.
 13. 
XIII. THE SEA OF SUNSET.
 14. 
XIV. PURPLE CLOVER.
 15. 
XV. THE BEE.
 16. 
[XVI. Presentiment is that long shadow on the lawn]
 17. 
[XVII. As children bid the guest good-night]
 18. 
[XVIII. Angels in the early morning]
 19. 
[XIX. So bashful when I spied her]
 20. 
XX. TWO WORLDS.
 21. 
XXI. THE MOUNTAIN.
 22. 
XXII. A DAY.
 23. 
[XXIII. The butterfly's assumption-gown]
 24. 
XXIV. THE WIND.
 25. 
XXV. DEATH AND LIFE.
 26. 
[XXVI. 'T was later when the summer went]
 27. 
XXVII. INDIAN SUMMER.
 28. 
XXVIII. AUTUMN.
 29. 
XXIX. BECLOUDED.
 30. 
XXX. THE HEMLOCK.
 31. 
[XXXI. There's a certain slant of light]
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IV. TIME AND ETERNITY.
 1. 
[I. One dignity delays for all]
 2. 
II. TOO LATE.
 3. 
III. ASTRA CASTRA.
 4. 
[IV. Safe in their alabaster chambers]
 5. 
[V. On this long storm the rainbow rose]
 6. 
VI. FROM THE CHRYSALIS.
 7. 
VII. SETTING SAIL.
 8. 
[VIII. Look back on time with kindly eyes]
 9. 
[IX. A train went through a burial gate]
 10. 
[X. I died for beauty, but was scarce]
 11. 
XI. “TROUBLED ABOUT MANY THINGS.”
 12. 
XII. REAL.
 13. 
XIII. THE FUNERAL.
 14. 
[XIV. I went to thank her]
 15. 
[XV. I've seen a dying eye]
 16. 
XVI. REFUGE.
 17. 
[XVII. I never saw a moor]
 18. 
XVIII. PLAYMATES.
 19. 
[XIX. To know just how he suffered would be dear]
 20. 
[XX. The last night that she lived]
 21. 
XXI. THE FIRST LESSON.
 22. 
[XXII. The bustle in a house]
 23. 
[XXIII. I reason, earth is short]
 24. 
[XXIV. Afraid? Of whom am I afraid?]
 25. 
XXV. DYING.
 26. 
[XXVI. Two swimmers wrestled on the spar]
 27. 
XXVII. THE CHARIOT.
 28. 
[XXVIII. She went as quiet as the dew]
 29. 
XXIX. RESURGAM.
 30. 
[XXX. Except to heaven, she is nought]
 31. 
[XXXI. Death is a dialogue between]
 32. 
[XXXII. It was too late for man]
 33. 
XXXIII. ALONG THE POTOMAC.
 34. 
[XXXIV. The daisy follows soft the sun]
 35. 
XXXV. EMANCIPATION.
 36. 
XXXVI. LOST.
 37. 
[XXXVII. If I should n't be alive]
 38. 
[XXXVIII. Sleep is supposed to be]
 39. 
[XXXIX. I shall know why, when time is over]
 40. 
[XL. I never lost as much but twice]

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106

[XXXI. There's a certain slant of light]

There's a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons,
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.
Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings are.
None may teach it anything,
'T is the seal, despair,—
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.
When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath;
When it goes, 't is like the distance
On the look of death.
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