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Poems by Emily Dickinson

Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

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[My nosegays are for captives]
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I. LIFE.
 1. 
[I. I'm nobody! Who are you?]
 2. 
[II. I bring an unaccustomed wine]
 3. 
[III. The nearest dream recedes, unrealized]
 4. 
[IV. We play at paste]
 5. 
[V. I found the phrase to every thought]
 6. 
VI. HOPE.
 7. 
VII. THE WHITE HEAT.
 8. 
VIII. TRIUMPHANT.
 9. 
IX. THE TEST.
 10. 
X. ESCAPE.
 11. 
XI. COMPENSATION.
 12. 
XII. THE MARTYRS.
 13. 
XIII. A PRAYER.
 14. 
[XIV. The thought beneath so slight a film]
 15. 
[XV. The soul unto itself]
 16. 
[XVI. Surgeons must be very careful]
 17. 
XVII. THE RAILWAY TRAIN.
 18. 
XVIII. THE SHOW.
 19. 
[XIX. Delight becomes pictorial]
 20. 
[XX. A thought went up my mind to-day]
 21. 
[XXI. Is Heaven a physician?]
 22. 
XXII. THE RETURN.
 23. 
[XXIII. A poor torn heart, a tattered heart]
 24. 
XXIV. TOO MUCH.
 25. 
XXV. SHIPWRECK.
 26. 
[XXVI. Victory comes late]
 27. 
XXVII. ENOUGH.
 28. 
[XXVIII. Experiment to me]
 29. 
XXIX. MY COUNTRY'S WARDROBE.
 30. 
[XXX. Faith is a fine invention]
 31. 
[XXXI. Except the heaven had come so near]
 32. 
[XXXII. Portraits are to daily faces]
 33. 
XXXIII. THE DUEL.
 34. 
[XXXIV. A shady friend for torrid days]
 35. 
XXXV. THE GOAL.
 36. 
XXXVI. SIGHT.
 37. 
[XXXVII. Talk with prudence to a beggar]
 38. 
XXXVIII. THE PREACHER.
 39. 
[XXXIX. Good night! which put the candle out?]
 40. 
[XL. When I hoped I feared]
 41. 
XLI. DEED.
 42. 
XLII. TIME'S LESSON.
 43. 
XLIII. REMORSE.
 44. 
XLIV. THE SHELTER.
 45. 
[XLV. Undue significance a starving man attaches]
 46. 
[XLVI. Heart not so heavy as mine]
 47. 
[XLVII. I many times thought peace had come]
 48. 
[XLVIII. Unto my books so good to turn]
 49. 
[XLIX. This merit hath the worst]
 50. 
L. HUNGER.
 51. 
[LI. I gained it so]
 52. 
[LII. To learn the transport by the pain]
 53. 
LIII. RETURNING.
 54. 
LIV. PRAYER.
 55. 
[LV. I know that he exists]
 56. 
LVI. MELODIES UNHEARD.
 57. 
LVII. CALLED BACK.
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II. LOVE.
 1. 
I. CHOICE.
 2. 
[II. I have no life but this]
 3. 
[III. Your riches taught me poverty]
 4. 
IV. THE CONTRACT.
 5. 
V. THE LETTER.
 6. 
[VI. The way I read a letter's this]
 7. 
[VII. Wild nights! Wild nights!]
 8. 
VIII. AT HOME.
 9. 
IX. POSSESSION.
 10. 
[X. A charm invests a face]
 11. 
XI. THE LOVERS.
 12. 
[XII. In lands I never saw, they say]
 13. 
[XIII. The moon is distant from the sea]
 14. 
[XIV. He put the belt around my life]
 15. 
XV. THE LOST JEWEL.
 16. 
[XVI. What if I say I shall not wait?]
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III. NATURE.
 1. 
I. MOTHER NATURE.
 2. 
II. OUT OF THE MORNING.
 3. 
[III. At half-past three a single bird]
 4. 
IV. DAY'S PARLOR.
 5. 
V. THE SUN'S WOOING.
 6. 
VI. THE ROBIN.
 7. 
VII. THE BUTTERFLY'S DAY.
 8. 
VIII. THE BLUEBIRD.
 9. 
IX. APRIL.
 10. 
X. THE SLEEPING FLOWERS.
 11. 
XI. MY ROSE.
 12. 
XII. THE ORIOLE'S SECRET.
 13. 
XIII. THE ORIOLE.
 14. 
XIV. IN SHADOW.
 15. 
XV. THE HUMMING-BIRD.
 16. 
XVI. SECRETS.
 17. 
[XVII. Who robbed the woods]
 18. 
XVIII. TWO VOYAGERS.
 19. 
XIX. BY THE SEA.
 20. 
XX. OLD-FASHIONED.
 21. 
XXI. A TEMPEST.
 22. 
XXII. THE SEA.
 23. 
XXIII. IN THE GARDEN.
 24. 
XXIV. THE SNAKE.
 25. 
XXV. THE MUSHROOM.
 26. 
XXVI. THE STORM.
 27. 
XXVII. THE SPIDER.
 28. 
[XXVIII. I know a place where summer strives]
 29. 
[XXIX. The one that could repeat the summer day]
 30. 
XXX. THE WIND'S VISIT.
 31. 
[XXXI. Nature rarer uses yellow]
 32. 
XXXII. GOSSIP.
 33. 
XXXIII. SIMPLICITY.
 34. 
XXXIV. STORM.
 35. 
XXXV. THE RAT.
 36. 
[XXXVI. Frequently the woods are pink]
 37. 
XXXVII. A THUNDER-STORM.
 38. 
XXXVIII. WITH FLOWERS.
 39. 
XXXIX. SUNSET.
 40. 
[XL. She sweeps with many-colored brooms]
 41. 
[XLI. Like mighty footlights burned the red]
 42. 
XLII. PROBLEMS.
 43. 
XLIII. THE JUGGLER OF DAY.
 44. 
XLIV. MY CRICKET.
 45. 
[XLV. As imperceptibly as grief]
 46. 
[XLVI. It can't be summer,—that got through]
 47. 
XLVII. SUMMER'S OBSEQUIES.
 48. 
XLVIII. FRINGED GENTIAN.
 49. 
XLIX. NOVEMBER.
 50. 
L. THE SNOW.
 51. 
LI THE BLUE JAY.
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IV. TIME AND ETERNITY.
 1. 
[I. Let down the bars, O Death]
 2. 
[II. Going to heaven]
 3. 
[III. At least to pray is left, is left]
 4. 
IV. EPITAPH.
 5. 
[V. Morns like these we parted]
 6. 
[VI. A death-blow is a life-blow to some]
 7. 
[VII. I read my sentence steadily]
 8. 
[VIII. I have not told my garden yet]
 9. 
IX. THE BATTLE-FIELD.
 10. 
[X. The only ghost I ever saw]
 11. 
[XI. Some, too fragile for winter winds]
 12. 
[XII. As by the dead we love to sit]
 13. 
XIII. MEMORIALS.
 14. 
[XIV. I went to heaven]
 15. 
[XV. Their height in heaven comforts not]
 16. 
[XVI. There is a shame of nobleness]
 17. 
XVII. TRIUMPH.
 18. 
[XVIII. Pompless no life can pass away]
 19. 
[XIX. I noticed people disappeared]
 20. 
XX. FOLLOWING.
 21. 
[XXI. If anybody's friend be dead]
 22. 
XXII. THE JOURNEY.
 23. 
XXIII. A COUNTRY BURIAL.
 24. 
XXIV. GOING.
 25. 
[XXV. Essential oils are wrung]
 26. 
[XXVI. I lived on dread; to those who know]
 27. 
[XXVII. If I should die]
 28. 
XXVIII. AT LENGTH.
 29. 
XXIX. GHOSTS.
 30. 
XXX. VANISHED.
 31. 
XXXI. PRECEDENCE.
 32. 
XXXII. GONE.
 33. 
XXXIII. REQUIEM.
 34. 
[XXXIV. What inn is this]
 35. 
[XXXV. It was not death, for I stood up]
 36. 
XXXVI. TILL THE END.
 37. 
XXXVII. VOID.
 38. 
[XXXVIII. A throe upon the features]
 39. 
XXXIX. SAVED!
 40. 
[XL. I think just how my shape will rise]
 41. 
XLI. THE FORGOTTEN GRAVE.
 42. 
[XLII. Lay this laurel on the one]

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80

LIII.
RETURNING.

I years had been from home,
And now, before the door,
I dared not open, lest a face
I never saw before
Stare vacant into mine
And ask my business there.
My business,—just a life I left,
Was such still dwelling there?
I fumbled at my nerve,
I scanned the windows near;
The silence like an ocean rolled,
And broke against my ear.
I laughed a wooden laugh
That I could fear a door,
Who danger and the dead had faced,
But never quaked before.
81

I fitted to the latch
My hand, with trembling care,
Lest back the awful door should spring,
And leave me standing there.
I moved my fingers off
As cautiously as glass,
And held my ears, and like a thief
Fled gasping from the house.
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