Poetry Catalog

He fumbles at your spiritAs players at the keysBefore they drop full music on;He stuns you by degrees, Prepares your brittle substanceFor the ethereal blow,By fainter hammers, further heard,Then nearer, then so slow Your breath has time to straighten,Your brain to bubble cool, --Deals one imperial thunderboltThat scalps your naked soul. … [Read more...] about The Master., By: Emily Dickinson

Through the straight pass of sufferingThe martyrs even trod,Their feet upon temptation,Their faces upon God. A stately, shriven company;Convulsion playing round,Harmless as streaks of meteorUpon a planet's bound. Their faith the everlasting troth;Their expectation fair;The needle to the north degreeWades so, through polar air. … [Read more...] about The Martyrs., By: Emily Dickinson

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 maidIt puzzled me to know, Till opposite I spied a cheekThat bore another rose;Just opposite, another speechThat like the drunkard goes; A vest that, like the bodice, … [Read more...] about The Lovers., By: Emily Dickinson

I felt a clearing in my mindAs if my brain had split;I tried to match it, seam by seam,But could not make them fit. The thought behind I strove to joinUnto the thought before,But sequence ravelled out of reachLike balls upon a floor. … [Read more...] about The Lost Thought., By: Emily Dickinson

I held a jewel in my fingersAnd went to sleep.The day was warm, and winds were prosy;I said: "'T will keep." I woke and chid my honest fingers, --The gem was gone;And now an amethyst remembranceIs all I own. … [Read more...] about The Lost Jewel., By: Emily Dickinson