Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete Quotes

“Have you got a brook in your little heart, Where bashful flowers blow, And blushing birds go down to drink, And shadows tremble so?”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“IX. The heart asks pleasure first, And then, excuse from pain; And then, those little anodynes That deaden suffering; And then, to go to sleep; And then, if it should be The will of its Inquisitor, The liberty to die.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“While I was fearing it, it came,
   But came with less of fear,
Because that fearing it so long
   Had almost made it dear.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“Who never lost, are unprepared”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“To fight aloud is very brave, But gallanter, I know, Who charge within the bosom, The cavalry of woe.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“The moon was but a chin of gold    A night or two ago, And now she turns her perfect face    Upon the world below. Her forehead is of amplest blond;    Her cheek like beryl stone; Her eye unto the summer dew    The likest I have known. Her lips of amber never part;    But what must be the smile Upon her friend she could bestow    Were such her silver will! And what a privilege to be    But the remotest star! For certainly her way might pass    Beside your twinkling door. Her bonnet is the firmament,    The universe her shoe, The stars the trinkets at her belt,    Her dimities of blue.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“LOVE'S BAPTISM. I'm ceded, I've stopped being theirs; The name they dropped upon my face With water, in the country church, Is finished using now, And they can put it with my dolls, My childhood, and the string of spools I've finished threading too. Baptized before without the choice, But this time consciously, of grace Unto supremest name, Called to my full, the crescent dropped, Existence's whole arc filled up With one small diadem. My second rank, too small the first, Crowned, crowing on my father's breast, A half unconscious queen; But this time, adequate, erect, With will to choose or to reject. And I choose — just a throne.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“The dying need but little, dear, —    A glass of water's all, A flower's unobtrusive face    To punctuate the wall, A fan, perhaps, a friend's regret,    And certainly that one No color in the rainbow    Perceives when you are gone.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“The smitten rock that gushes, The trampled steel that springs; A cheek is always redder Just where the hectic stings!”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“XXXVII. The dying need but little, dear, —    A glass of water's all, A flower's unobtrusive face    To punctuate the wall, A fan, perhaps, a friend's regret,    And certainly that one No color in the rainbow    Perceives when you are gone.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“FAREWELL. Tie the strings to my life, my Lord,    Then I am ready to go! Just a look at the horses —    Rapid! That will do! Put me in on the firmest side,    So I shall never fall; For we must ride to the Judgment,    And it's partly down hill. But never I mind the bridges,    And never I mind the sea; Held fast in everlasting race    By my own choice and thee. Good-by to the life I used to live,    And the world I used to know; And kiss the hills for me, just once;    Now I am ready to go!”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“EMANCIPATION.
No rack can torture me,
My soul's at liberty
Behind this mortal bone
There knits a bolder one
You cannot prick with saw,
Nor rend with scymitar.
Two bodies therefore be;
Bind one, and one will flee.
The eagle of his nest
No easier divest
And gain the sky,
Than mayest thou,
Except thyself may be
Thine enemy;
Captivity is consciousness,
So's liberty.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“This is my letter to the world,
    That never wrote to me, —”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“XXI.
A BOOK.
He ate and drank the precious words,
His spirit grew robust;
He knew no more that he was poor,
Nor that his frame was dust.
He danced along the dingy days,
And this bequest of wings
Was but a book. What liberty
A loosened spirit brings!”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“And so, upon this wise I prayed, — Great Spirit, give to me A heaven not so large as yours, But large enough for me.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“XVI. Surgeons must be very careful When they take the knife! Underneath their fine incisions Stirs the culprit, — Life!”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“COBWEBS. The spider as an artist    Has never been employed Though his surpassing merit    Is freely certified By every broom and Bridget    Throughout a Christian land. Neglected son of genius,    I take thee by the hand.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems: Three Series, Complete

“I hide myself within my flower, That wearing on your breast, You, unsuspecting, wear me too — And angels know the rest.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“XXXVII. If I shouldn't be alive When the robins come, Give the one in red cravat A memorial crumb. If I couldn't thank you, Being just asleep, You will know I'm trying With my granite lip!”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“Where ships of purple gently toss
On seas of daffodil,
Fantastic sailors mingle,
And then — the wharf is still.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“With gay delays he goes
To some superior tree”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“THE LOVERS.
The rose did caper on her cheek,
Her bodice rose and fell,
Her pretty speech, like drunken men,
Did stagger pitiful.
Her fingers fumbled at her work, —
Her needle would not go;
What ailed so smart a little maid
It puzzled me to know,
Till opposite I spied a cheek
That bore another rose;
Just opposite, another speech
That like the drunkard goes;
A vest that, like the bodice, danced
To the immortal tune, —
Till those two troubled little clocks
Ticked softly into one.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“Wild nights! Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile the winds
To a heart in port, —
Done with the compass,
Done with the chart.
Rowing in Eden!
Ah! the sea!
Might I but moor
To-night in thee!”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“And then you wished you had eyes in your pages,
So you could see what moved them so.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“The heart asks pleasure first,
And then, excuse from pain;
And then, those little anodynes
That deaden suffering;
And then, to go to sleep;
And then, if it should be
The will of its Inquisitor,
The liberty to die.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“VIII.
Look back on time with kindly eyes,
He doubtless did his best;
How softly sinks his trembling sun
In human nature's west!”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“God gave a loaf to every bird,
But just a crumb to me;
I dare not eat it, though I starve, —
My poignant luxury”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete

“REMORSE. Remorse is memory awake, Her companies astir, — A presence of departed acts At window and at door. It's past set down before the soul, And lighted with a match, Perusal to facilitate Of its condensed despatch. Remorse is cureless, — the disease Not even God can heal; For 't is his institution, — The complement of hell.”
― Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete