A Tongue -- to tell Him I am true! Its fee -- to be of Gold --
Had Nature -- in Her monstrous House A single Ragged Child --
To earn a Mine -- would run
That Interdicted Way,
And tell Him -- Charge thee speak it plain -- That so far -- Truth is True?
And answer What I do --
Beginning with the Day
That Night -- begun --
Nay -- Midnight -- 'twas --
Since Midnight -- happened -- say --
If once more -- Pardon -- Boy -- The Magnitude thou may
Enlarge my Message -- If too vast Another Lad -- help thee --
Thy Pay -- in Diamonds -- be -- And His -- in solid Gold -
Say Rubies -- if He hesitate -- My Message -- must be told --
Say -- last I said -- was This -- That when the Hills -- come down -- And hold no higher than the Plain -My Bond -- have just begun --
And when the Heavens -- disband -And Deity conclude --
Then -- look for me. Be sure you say -- Least Figure -- on the Road --
401 What Soft -- Cherubic Creatures -- These Gentlewomen are --
One would as soon assault a Plush -- Or violate a Star --
Such Dimity Convictions -- A Horror so refined
Of freckled Human Nature -- Of Deity -- ashamed --
It's such a common -- Glory -- A Fisherman's -- Degree -- Redemption -- Brittle Lady -- Be so -- ashamed of Thee --
402I pay -- in Satin Cash --
You did not state -- your price -- A Petal, for a Paragraph
It near as I can guess --
The Winters are so short -- I'm hardly justified
In sending all the Birds away -- And moving into Pod --
Myself -- for scarcely settled --
The Phoebes have begun --
And then -- it's time to strike my Tent -- And open House -- again --
It's mostly, interruptions --
My Summer -- is despoiled --
Because there was a Winter -- once -- And al the Cattle -- starved --
And so there was a Deluge -- And swept the World away -- But Ararat's a Legend -- now -- And no one credits Noah --
404How many Flowers fail in Wood -- Or perish from the Hill --
Without the privilege to know That they are Beautiful -
How many cast a nameless Pod Upon the nearest Breeze --
Unconscious of the Scarlet Freight -It bear to Other Eyes --
It might be lonelier
Without the Loneliness --
I'm so accustomed to my Fate -- Perhaps the Other -- Peace --
Would interrupt the Dark --
And crowd the little Room -- Too scant -- by Cubits -- to contain The Sacrament -- of Him --
I am not used to Hope --
It might intrude upon --
Its sweet parade -- blaspheme the place -- Ordained to Suffering --
It might be easier
To fail -- with Land in Sight -- Than gain -- My Blue Peninsula -- To perish -- of Delight --
406
Some -- Work for Immortality -- The Chiefer part, for Time --
He -- Compensates -- immediately -- The former -- Checks -- on Fame --
Slow Gold -- but Everlasting -- The Bullion of Today --
Contrasted with the Currency Of Immortality --
A Beggar -- Here and There -- Is gifted to discern
Beyond the Broker's insight -- One's -- Money -- One's -- the Mine -
407
If What we could -- were what we would -- Criterion -- be small --
It is the Ultimate of Talk --
The Impotence to Tell -
Unit, like Death, for Whom?
True, like the Tomb,
Who tells no secret
Told to Him --
The Grave is strict --
Tickets admit
Just two -- the Bearer --
And the Borne --
And seat -- just One --
The Living -- tell --
The Dying -- but a Syllable --
The Coy Dead -- None --
No Chatter -- here -- no tea --
So Babbler, and Bohea -- stay there -- But Gravity -- and Expectation -- and Fear -- A tremor just, that All's not sure.
They dropped like Flakes -- They dropped like Stars -- Like Petals from a Rose -- When suddenly across the June A wind with fingers -- goes --
They perished in the Seamless Grass -- No eye could find the place --
But God can summon every face Of his Repealless -- List.
The first Day's Night had come -- And grateful that a thing
So terrible -- had been endured -- I told my Soul to sing -
She said her Strings were snapt -- Her Bow -- to Atoms blown --
And so to mend her -- gave me work Until another Morn --
And then -- a Day as huge As Yesterdays in pairs,
Unrolled its horror in my face -- Until it blocked my eyes --
My Brain -- begun to laugh -- I mumbled -- like a fool -
And tho' 'tis Years ago -- that Day -- My Brain keeps giggling -- still.
And Something's odd -- within -- That person that I was --
And this One -- do not feel the same -- Could it be Madness -- this?
The Color of the Grave is Green -- The Outer Grave -- I mean --
You would not know it from the Field -- Except it own a Stone --
To help the fond -- to find it -- Too infinite asleep
To stop and tell them where it is -- But just a Daisy -- deep --
The Color of the Grave is white -- The outer Grave -- I mean --
You would not know it from the Drifts -- In Winter -- till the Sun -
Has furrowed out the Aisles -- Then -- higher than the Land The little Dwelling Houses rise Where each -- has left a friend --
The Color of the Grave within -- The Duplicate -- I mean --
Not all the Snows could make it white -- Not all the Summers -- Green --
You've seen the Color -- maybe -- Upon a Bonnet bound --
When that you met it with before -- The Ferret -- cannot find --
I read my sentence -- steadily -- Reviewed it with my eyes,
To see that I made no mistake
In its extremest clause -
The Date, and manner, of the shame -- And then the Pious Form
That "God have mercy" on the Soul
The Jury voted Him --
I made my soul familiar -- with her extremity -- That at the last, it should not be a novel Agony -- But she, and Death, acquainted -
Meet tranquilly, as friends --
Salute, and pass, without a Hint --
And there, the Matter ends --
I never felt at Home -- Below --- And in the Handsome Skies I shall not feel at Home -- I know -- I don't like Paradise --
Because it's Sunday -- all the time -- And Recess -- never comes -- And Eden'll be so lonesome
Bright Wednesday Afternoons --
If God could make a visit -- Or ever took a Nap --
So not to see us -- but they say Himself -- a Telescope
Perennial beholds us -
Myself would run away
From Him -- and Holy Ghost -- and All -- But there's the "Judgement Day"!
'Twas like a Maelstrom, with a notch, That nearer, every Day,
Kept narrowing its boiling Wheel Until the Agony
Toyed coolly with the final inch Of your delirious Hem --
And you dropt, lost,
When something broke -And let you from a Dream --
As if a Goblin with a Gauge -- Kept measuring the Hours -- Until you felt your Second Weigh, helpless, in his Paws --
And not a Sinew -- stirred -- could help, And sense was setting numb --
When God -- remembered -- and the Fiend Let go, then, Overcome --
As if your Sentence stood -- pronounced -- And you were frozen led
From Dungeon's luxury of Doubt
To Gibbets, and the Dead --
And when the Film had stitched your eyes A Creature gasped "Reprieve"!
Which Anguish was the utterest -- then -- To perish, or to live?
Sunset at Night -- is natural -- But Sunset on the Dawn
Reverses Nature -- Master -- So Midnight's -- due -- at Noon.
Eclipses be -- predicted -- And Science bows them in -- But do one face us suddenly -- Jehovah's Watch -- is wrong.
416A Murmur in the Trees -- to note -- Not loud enough -- for Wind -- A Star -- not far enough to seek -- Nor near enough -- to find --
A long -- long Yellow -- on the Lawn -- A Hubbub -- as of feet -
Not audible -- as Ours -- to Us -- But dapperer -- More Sweet --
A Hurrying Home of little Men To Houses unperceived --
All this -- and more -- if I should tell -Would never be believed --
Of Robins in the Trundle bed
How many I espy
Whose Nightgowns could not hide the Wings -- Although I heard them try --
But then I promised ne'er to tell -- How could I break My Word? So go your Way -- and I'll go Mine -- No fear you'll miss the Road.
417Is it dead -- Find it --
Out of sound -- Out of sight -- "Happy"? Which is wiser --
You, or the Wind?
"Conscious"? Won't you ask that -- Of the low Ground?
"Homesick"? Many met it -- Even through them -- This Cannot testify --
Themself -- as dumb -- 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 --
And yet -- My Primer suits me so
I would not choose -- a Book to know Than that -- be sweeter wise --
Might some one else -- so learned -- be -- And leave me -- just my A -- B -- C -Himself -- could have the Skies --
We grow accustomed to the Dark -- When light is put away --
As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp To witness her Goodbye --
A Moment -- We uncertain step For newness of the night --
Then -- fit our Vision to the Dark -- And meet the Road -- erect --
And so of larger -- Darkness -- Those Evenings of the Brain -- When not a Moon disclose a sign -Or Star -- come out -- within --
The Bravest -- grope a little -- And sometimes hit a Tree Directly in the Forehead -- But as they learn to see --
Either the Darkness alters -- Or something in the sight Adjusts itself to Midnight -- And Life steps almost straight. You'll know it -- as you know 'tis Noon -- By Glory -
As you do the Sun --
By Glory -
As you will in Heaven --
Know God the Father -- and the Son.
By intuition, Mightiest Things
Assert themselves -- and not by terms -- "I'm Midnight" -- need the Midnight say -- "I'm Sunrise" -- Need the Majesty?
Omnipotence -- had not a Tongue -- His listp -- is Lightning -- and the Sun -- His Conversation -- with the Sea -- "How shall you know"?
Consult your Eye!
A Charm invests a face
Imperfectly beheld --
The Lady date not lift her Veil For fear it be dispelled --
But peers beyond her mesh -- And wishes -- and denies -- Lest Interview -- annul a want That Image -- satisfies -
422More Life -- went out -- when He went Than Ordinary Breath --
Lit with a finer Phosphor --
Requiring in the Quench --
A Power of Renowned Cold, The Climate of the Grave A Temperature just adequate So Anthracite, to live --
For some -- an Ampler Zero -- A Frost more needle keen Is necessary, to reduce
The Ethiop within.
Others -- extinguish easier -- A Gnat's minutest Fan
Sufficient to obliterate
A Tract of Citizen --
Whose Peat lift -- amply vivid -- Ignores the solemn News That Popocatapel exists -- Or Etna's Scarlets, Choose --
423The Months have ends -- the Years -- a knot -- No Power can untie
To stretch a little further
A Skein of Misery --
The Earth lays back these tired lives In her mysterious Drawers --
Too tenderly, that any doubt
An ultimate Repose --
The manner of the Children -- Who weary of the Day --
Themself -- the noisy Plaything They cannot put away --
Removed from Accident of Loss By Accident of Gain
Befalling not my simple Days -- Myself had just to earn -
Of Riches -- as unconscious As is the Brown Malay
Of Pearls in Eastern Waters, Marked His -- What Holiday Would stir his slow conception -- Had he the power to dream That put the Dower's fraction -- Awaited even -- Him --
Good Morning -- Midnight -- I'm coming Home --
Day -- got tired of Me -- How could I -- of Him?
Sunshine was a sweet place -- I liked to stay --
But Morn -- didn't want me -- now -- So -- Goodnight -- Day!
I can look -- can't I --
When the East is Red?
The Hills -- have a way -- then -- That puts the Heart -- abroad --
You -- are not so fair -- Midnight -- I chose -- Day --
But -- please take a little Girl -- He turned away!
It don't sound so terrible -- quite -- as it did -- I run it over -- "Dead", Brain, "Dead." Put it in Latin -- left of my school --
Seems it don't shriek so -- under rule.
Turn it, a little -- full in the face A Trouble looks bitterest --
Shift it -- just --
Say "When Tomorrow comes this way -- I shall have waded down one Day."
I suppose it will interrupt me some
Till I get accustomed -- but then the Tomb Like other new Things -- shows largest -- then -And smaller, by Habit --
It's shrewder then
Put the Thought in advance -- a Year -- How like "a fit" -- then --
Murder -- wear!
I'll clutch -- and clutch -
Next -- One -- Might be the golden touch -- Could take it --
Diamonds -- Wait --
I'm diving -- just a little late --
But stars -- go slow -- for night --
I'll string you -- in fine Necklace --
Tiaras -- make -- of some --
Wear you on Hem --
Loop up a Countess -- with you --
Make -- a Diadem -- and mend my old One -- Count -- Hoard -- then lose --
And doubt that you are mine --
To have the joy of feeling it -- again --
I'll show you at the Court -- Bear you -- for Ornament Where Women breathe -- That every sigh -- may lift you Just as high -- as I --
And -- when I die --
In meek array -- display you --
Still to show -- how rich I go --
Lest Skies impeach a wealth so wonderful -- And banish me --
Taking up the fair Ideal,
Just to cast her down
When a fracture -- we discover --
Or a splintered Crown --
Makes the Heavens portable --
And the Gods -- a lie -
Doubtless -- "Adam" -- scowled at Eden -- For his perjury!
Cherishing -- our pool Ideal -- Till in purer dress --
We behold her -- glorified -- Comforts -- search -- like this -- Till the broken creatures -- We adored -- for whole -- Stains -- all washed --
Transfigured -- mended -- Meet us -- with a smile -
The Moon is distant from the Sea -- And yet, with Amber Hands -- She leads Him -- docile as a Boy -- Along appointed Sands --
He never misses a Degree --
Obedient to Her Eye
He comes just so far -- toward the Town -- Just so far -- goes away --
Oh, Signor, Thine, the Amber Hand -- And mine -- the distant Sea --
Obedient to the least command Thine eye impose on me --
It would never be Common -- more -- I said -- Difference -- had begun --
Many a bitterness -- had been --
But that old sort -- was done --
Or -- if it sometime -- showed -- as 'twill -- Upon the Downiest -- Morn --
Such bliss -- had I -- for all the years -- 'Twould give an Easier -- pain --
I'd so much joy -- I told it -- Red -- Upon my simple Cheek --
I felt it publish -- in my Eye -- 'Twas needless -- any speak --
I walked -- as wings -- my body bore -- The feet -- I former used --
Unnecessary -- now to me --
As boots -- would be -- to Birds --
I put my pleasure all abroad -- I dealth a word of Gold
To every Creature -- that I met -- And Dowered -- all the World --
When -- suddenly -- my Riches shrank -- A Goblin -- drank my Dew --
My Palaces -- dropped tenantless -Myself -- was beggared -- too --
I clutched at sounds --
I groped at shapes --
I touched the tops of Films -- I felt the Wilderness roll back Along my Golden lines --
The Sackcloth -- hangs upon the nail -- The Frock I used to wear --
But where my moment of Brocade -- My -- drop -- of India?
Me -- come! My dazzled face In such a shining place!
Me -- hear! My foreign Ear The sounds of Welcome -- there!
My Holiday, shall be
That They -- remember me -- My Paradise -- the fame
That They -- pronounce my name --
Do People moulder equally, They bury, in the Grave? I do believe a Species As positively live
As I, who testify it
Deny that I -- am dead --
And fill my Lungs, for Witness -- From Tanks -- above my Head --
I say to you, said Jesus --
That there be standing here -- A Sort, that shall not taste of Death -- If Jesus was sincere --
I need no further Argue -- That statement of the Lord Is not a controvertible --
He told me, Death was dead --
433 Knows how to forget! But could It teach it? Easiest of Arts, they say When one learn how
Dull Hearts have died In the Acquisition
Sacrificed for Science Is common, though, now --
I went to School
But was not wiser Globe did not teach it Nor Logarithm Show
"How to forget"!
Say -- some -- Philosopher! Ah, to be erudite
Enough to know!
Is it in a Book?
So, I could buy it --
Is it like a Planet?
Telescopes would know --
If it be invention
It must have a Patent. Rabbi of the Wise Book Don't you know?
To love thee Year by Year --
May less appear
Than sacrifice, and cease --
However, dear,
Forever might be short, I thought to show -- And so I pieced it, with a flower, now.
Much Madness is divinest Sense -To a discerning Eye --
Much Sense -- the starkest Madness -- 'Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail --
Assent -- and you are sane --
Demur -- you're straightway dangerous -- And handled with a Chain --
The Wind -- tapped like a tired Man -- And like a Host -- "Come in"
I boldly answered -- entered then My Residence within
A Rapid -- footless Guest -- To offer whom a Chair
Were as impossible as hand A Sofa to the Air --
No Bone had He to bind Him -- His Speech was like the Push Of numerous Humming Birds at once From a superior Bush --
His Countenance -- a Billow -- His Fingers, as He passed Let go a music -- as of tunes Blown tremulous in Glass --
He visited -- still flitting --
Then like a timid Man
Again, He tapped -- 'twas flurriedly -And I became alone --
Prayer is the little implement Through which Men reach
Where Presence -- is denied them. They fling their Speech
By means of it -- in God's Ear -- If then He hear --
This sums the Apparatus
Comprised in Prayer --
Forget! The lady with the Amulet Forget she wore it at her Heart Because she breathed against Was Treason twixt?
Deny! Did Rose her Bee --
For Privilege of Play
Or Wile of Butterfly
Or Opportunity -- Her Lord away?
The lady with the Amulet -- will face -- The Bee -- in Mausoleum laid -- Discard his Bride --
But longer than the little Rill --
That cooled the Forehead of the Hill -- While Other -- went the Sea to fill -And Other -- went to turn the Mill -- I'll do thy Will --
Undue Significance a starving man attaches To Food --
Far off -- He sighs -- and therefore -- Hopeless -And therefore -- Good --
Partaken -- it relieves -- indeed -- But proves us
That Spices fly
In the Receipt -- It was the Distance -- Was Savory --
440
'Tis customary as we part A trinket -- to confer --
It helps to stimulate the faith When Lovers be afar -
'Tis various -- as the various taste -Clematis -- journeying far --
Presents me with a single Curl Of her Electric Hair --
This is my letter to the World That never wrote to Me --
The simple News that Nature told -With tender Majesty
Her Message is committed
To Hands I cannot see -
For love of Her -- Sweet -- countrymen -- Judge tenderly -- of Me
God made a little Gentian --
It tried -- to be a Rose --
And failed -- and all the Summer laughed -- But just before the Snows
There rose a Purple Creature -- That ravished all the Hill --
And Summer hid her Forehead -- And Mockery -- was still --
The Frosts were her condition -- The Tyrian would not come Until the North -- invoke it -- Creator -- Shall I -- bloom?
443I tie my Hat -- I crease my Shawl -- Life's little duties do -- precisely -- As the very least
Were infinite -- to me --
I put new Blossoms in the Glass -
And throw the old -- away --
I push a petal from my gown
That anchored there -- I weigh
The time 'twill be till six o'clock
I have so much to do -
And yet -- Existence -- some way back -- Stopped -- struck -- my tickling -- through -- We cannot put Ourself away
As a completed Man
Or Woman -- When the Errand's done We came to Flesh -- upon --
There may be -- Miles on Miles of Nought -- Of Action -- sicker far -
To simulate -- is stinging work --
To cover what we are
From Science -- and from Surgery -- Too Telescopic Eyes
To bear on us unshaded --
For their -- sake -- not for Ours --
'Twould start them --
We -- could tremble --
But since we got a Bomb --
And held it in our Bosom --
Nay -- Hold it -- it is calm --
Therefore -- we do life's labor -- Though life's Reward -- be done -- With scrupulous exactness -- To hold our Senses -- on --
It feels a shame to be Alive -- When Men so brave -- are dead -- One envies the Distinguished Dust -Permitted -- such a Head --
The Stone -- that tells defending Whom This Spartan put away
What little of Him we -- possessed In Pawn for Liberty --
The price is great -- Sublimely paid -- Do we deserve -- a Thing --
That lives -- like Dollars -- must be piled Before we may obtain?
Are we that wait -- sufficient worth -- That such Enormous Pearl
As life -- dissolved be -- for Us -- In Battle's -- horrid Bowl?
It may be -- a Renown to live -- I think the Man who die -- Those unsustained -- Saviors -- Present Divinity --
445'Twas just this time, last year, I died. I know I heard the Corn,
When I was carried by the Farms -- It had the Tassels on --
I thought how yellow it would look -When Richard went to mill -- And then, I wanted to get out, But something held my will.
I thought just how Red -- Apples wedged The Stubble's joints between --
And the Carts stooping round the fields To take the Pumpkins in --
I wondered which would miss me, least, And when Thanksgiving, came,
If Father'd multiply the plates --
To make an even Sum --
And would it blur the Christmas glee My Stocking hang too high
For any Santa Claus to reach The Altitude of me --
But this sort, grieved myself,
And so, I thought the other way, How just this time, some perfect year -- Themself, should come to me --
I showed her Heights she never saw -- "Would'st Climb," I said?
She said -- "Not so" --
"With me --" I said -- With me?
I showed her Secrets -- Morning's Nest -- The Rope the Nights were put across -- And now -- "Would'st have me for a Guest?" She could not find her Yes --
And then, I brake my life -- And Lo,
A Light, for her, did solemn glow,
The larger, as her face withdrew --
And could she, further, "No"?
Could -- I do more -- for Thee -- Wert Thou a Bumble Bee -- Since for the Queen, have I -- Nought but Bouquet?
This was a Poet -- It is That Distills amazing sense
From ordinary Meanings -- And Attar so immense
From the familiar species
That perished by the Door -- We wonder it was not Ourselves Arrested it -- before --
Of Pictures, the Discloser -- The Poet -- it is He --
Entitles Us -- by Contrast -- To ceaseless Poverty --
Of portion -- so unconscious -- The Robbing -- could not harm -- Himself -- to Him -- a Fortune -- Exterior -- to Time --
449I died for Beauty -- but was scarce Adjusted in the Tomb
When One who died for Truth, was lain In an adjoining room --
He questioned softly "Why I failed"? "For Beauty", I replied -
"And I -- for Truth -- Themself are One -- We Brethren, are", He said --
And so, as Kinsmen, met a Night -- We talked between the Rooms -- Until the Moss had reached our lips -- And covered up -- our names --
450Dreams -- are well -- but Waking's better, If One wake at morn --
If One wake at Midnight -- better -- Dreaming -- of the Dawn --
Sweeter -- the Surmising Robins -- Never gladdened Tree --
Than a Solid Dawn -- confronting -Leading to no Day --
The Outer -- from the Inner Derives its Magnitude --
'Tis Duke, or Dwarf, according As is the Central Mood --
The fine