Great poems
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You said that I "was Great" -- one Day --
© Emily Dickinson
You said that I "was Great" -- one Day --
Then "Great" it be -- if that please Thee --
Or Small -- or any size at all --
Nay -- I'm the size suit Thee --
Who Giants know, with lesser Men
© Emily Dickinson
Who Giants know, with lesser Men
Are incomplete, and shy --
For Greatness, that is ill at ease
In minor Company --
Were natural mortal lady
© Emily Dickinson
Were natural mortal lady
Who had so little time
To pack her trunk and order
The great exchange of clime --
We thirst at first -- 'tis Nature's Act --
© Emily Dickinson
We thirst at first -- 'tis Nature's Act --
And later -- when we die --
A little Water supplicate --
Of fingers going by --
Though the great Waters sleep,
© Emily Dickinson
Though the great Waters sleep,
That they are still the Deep,
We cannot doubt --
No vacillating God
Ignited this Abode
To put it out --
The One who could repeat the Summer day
© Emily Dickinson
The One who could repeat the Summer day --
Were greater than itself -- though He
Minutest of Mankind should be --
The Life we have is very great.
© Emily Dickinson
The Life we have is very great.
The Life that we shall see
Surpasses it, we know, because
It is Infinity.
The Fingers of the Light
© Emily Dickinson
The Fingers of the Light
Tapped soft upon the Town
With "I am great and cannot wait
So therefore let me in."
The Bible is an antique Volume --
© Emily Dickinson
The Bible is an antique Volume --
Written by faded men
At the suggestion of Holy Spectres --
Subjects -- Bethlehem --
The Battle fought between the Soul
© Emily Dickinson
The Battle fought between the Soul
And No Man -- is the One
Of all the Battles prevalent --
By far the Greater One --
That this should feel the need of Death
© Emily Dickinson
That this should feel the need of Death
The same as those that lived
Is such a Feat of Irony
As never was -- achieved --
Renunciation -- is a piercing Virtue --
© Emily Dickinson
Renunciation -- is a piercing Virtue --
The letting go
A Presence -- for an Expectation --
Not now --
My country need not change her gown,
© Emily Dickinson
My country need not change her gown,
Her triple suit as sweet
As when 'twas cut at Lexington,
And first pronounced "a fit."
It's thoughts -- and just One Heart
© Emily Dickinson
It's thoughts -- and just One Heart --
And Old Sunshine -- about --
Make frugal -- Ones -- Content --
And two or three -- for Company --
Upon a Holiday --
Crowded -- as Sacrament --
It bloomed and dropt, a Single Noon --
© Emily Dickinson
It bloomed and dropt, a Single Noon --
The Flower -- distinct and Red --
I, passing, thought another Noon
Another in its stead
I meant to have but modest needs
© Emily Dickinson
I meant to have but modest needs --
Such as Content -- and Heaven --
Within my income -- these could lie
And Life and I -- keep even --
I did not reach Thee
© Emily Dickinson
I did not reach Thee
But my feet slip nearer every day
Three Rivers and a Hill to cross
One Desert and a Sea
I shall not count the journey one
When I am telling thee.
Had I presumed to hope --
© Emily Dickinson
Had I presumed to hope --
The loss had been to Me
A Value -- for the Greatness' Sake --
As Giants -- gone away --
Great Caesar! Condescend
© Emily Dickinson
Great Caesar! Condescend
The Daisy, to receive,
Gathered by Cato's Daughter,
With your majestic leave!
Go thy great way!
© Emily Dickinson
Go thy great way!
The Stars thou meetst
Are even as Thyself --
For what are Stars but Asterisks
To point a human Life?
