Emily Dickinson · 331 pages
Rating: (1.5K votes)
“I can wade Grief --
Whole Pools of it --
I'm used to that --
But the least push of Joy
Breaks up my feet --
And I tip -- drunken --
Let no Pebble -- smile --
'Twas the New Liquor --
That was all!”
“I lost a world the other day. Has anybody found? You'll know it by the rows of stars around it's forehead bound. A rich man might not notice it; yet to my frugal eye of more esteem than ducats. Oh! Find it, sir, for me!”
“We dream — it is good we are dreaming —
It would hurt us — were we awake —
But since it is playing — kill us,
And we are playing — shriek —
What harm? Men die — externally —
It is a truth — of Blood —
But we — are dying in Drama —
And Drama — is never dead —
Cautious — We jar each other —
And either — open the eyes —
Lest the Phantasm — prove the Mistake —
And the livid Surprise
Cool us to Shafts of Granite —
With just an Age — and Name —
And perhaps a phrase in Egyptian —
It's prudenter — to dream —”
“Life is but Life! And Death, but Death!
Bliss is but Bliss, and Breath but Breath!”
“Bind me-I still can sing-
Banish-my mandolin
Strikes true within-
Slay-and my Soul shall rise
Chanting to Paradise-
Still thine.”
“My love was alive, not because I was loved, but because I myself loved!”
“When a woman tells you to 'Go ahead,' you do not, under any circumstances go ahead. You retreat to a safe distance and observe the situation very carefully. She is daring you to do something, not giving you permission.”
“There was something real breakable about Mary Ella and I was always afraid if I touched her in the wrong spot, she'd crack.”
“]sing to us
the one with violets in her lap
]mostly
]goes astray”
“A freight train of anger and she doesn’t even have a clue that I’m her fucking fuel.”
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