The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
by Emily Dickinson
30 popular highlights from this book
Key Insights & Memorable Quotes
Below are the most popular and impactful highlights and quotes from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson:
“Not knowing when the dawn will comeI open every door.”
“I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too? Then there ’s a pair of us—don’t tell! They ’d banish us, you know. How dreary to be somebody! How public, like a frog To tell your name the livelong day To an admiring bog!”
“Nature is a haunted house--but Art--is a house that tries to be haunted.”
“A Word is DeadA word is deadWhen it is said,Some say. I say it justBegins to liveThat day.”
“One need not be a chamber to be haunted.”
“Hope is the thing with feathersThat perches in the soul,And sings the tune without the words,And never stops at all,And sweetest in the gale is heard;And sore must be the stormThat could abash the little birdThat kept so many warm.I've heard it in the chilliest landAnd on the strangest sea;Yet, never, in extremity,It asked a crumb of me.”
“Love is anterior to life, posterior to death, initial of creation, and the exponent of breath.”
“If you were coming in the fall,I'd brush the summer by,With half a smile and half a spurn,As housewives do a fly.If I could see you in a year,I'd wind the months in balls,And put them each in separate drawers,Until their time befalls.”
“I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,And Mourners to and froKept treading – treading – till it seemedThat Sense was breaking through – And when they all were seated,A Service, like a Drum – Kept beating – beating – till I thoughtMy Mind was going numb – And then I heard them lift a BoxAnd creak across my SoulWith those same Boots of Lead, again,Then Space – began to toll,As all the Heavens were a Bell,And Being, but an Ear,And I, and Silence, some strange RaceWrecked, solitary, here – And then a Plank in Reason, broke,And I dropped down, and down – And hit a World, at every plunge,And Finished knowing – then –”
“Much Madness Is Divinest SenseMuch Madness is divinest Sense —To a discerning Eye —Much Sense — the starkest Madness —'Tis the MajorityIn this, as All, prevail —Assent — and you are sane —Demur — you're straightway dangerous —And handled with a Chain —”
“To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,One clover, and a bee,And revery.The revery alone will do,If bees are few.”
“To see her is a picture—To hear her is a tune—To know her an IntemperanceAs innocent as June—To know her not—Affliction—To own her for a FriendA warmth as near as if the SunWere shining in your Hand.”
“To be alive──is Power.”
“One need not be a chamber to be haunted,One need not be a house;The brain has corridors surpassingMaterial place.Far safer, of a midnight meetingExternal ghost,Than an interior confrontingThat whiter host.Far safer through an Abbey gallop,The stones achase,Than, moonless, one's own self encounterIn lonesome place.Ourself, behind ourself concealed,Should startle most; Assassin, hid in our apartment,Be horror's least.The prudent carries a revolver,He bolts the door,O'erlooking a superior spectreMore near.”
“Forever – is composed of Nows – (690)Forever – is composed of Nows –‘Tis not a different time –Except for Infiniteness –And Latitude of Home –From this – experienced Here –Remove the Dates – to These –Let Months dissolve in further Months –And Years – exhale in Years –Without Debate – or Pause –Or Celebrated Days –No different Our Years would beFrom Anno Dominies –”
“I felt a Cleaving in my Mind—As if my Brain had split—I tried to match it—Seam by Seam—But could not make it fit.”
“I cannot live with you, It would be life, And life is over there Behind the shelf ”
“Heart, we will forget him!You and I, to-night!You may forget the warmth he gave,I will forget the light.When you have done, pray tell me,That I my thoughts may dim;Haste! lest while you’re lagging,I may remember him!”
“The Soul selects her own Society.”
“I held a jewel in my fingers And 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 remembrance Is all I own.”
“I HIDE myself within my flowerThat wearing on your breast,You, unsuspecting, wear me too—And angels know the rest.I hide myself within my flower,That, fading from your vase,You, unsuspecting, feel for meAlmost a loneliness...”
“The Brain - is wider than the Sky -For - put them side by side -The one the other will containWith ease - and You - beside -The Brain is deeper than the sea -For- hold them - Blue to Blue -The one the other will absorb -As Sponges - Buckets - do -The Brain is just the weight of God -For - Heft them - Pound for Pound -And they will differ - if they do -As Syllable from Sound.”
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”
“It might be lonelierWithout 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 containThe 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 easierTo fail — with Land in Sight —Than gain — My Blue Peninsula —To perish — of Delight — F535 (1863) J405”
“Success is counted sweetest By those who ne’er succeed. To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need.”
“To see the Summer SkyIs Poetry, though never in a Book it lie—True Poems flee—”
“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 blowby fainter hammers, further heard,Then nearer, then so slowYour breath has time to straightenYour brain to bubble cool,-Deals one imperial thunderboltThat scalps your naked soul.”
“I felt a Cleaving in my Mind—As if my Brain had split—I tried to match it—Seam by Seam—But could not make it fit.The thought behind, I strove to joinUnto the thought before—But Sequence ravelled out of SoundLike Balls—upon a Floor.”
“A charm invests a faceImperfectly beheld,—The lady dare not lift her veilFor fear it be dispelled.But peers beyond her mesh,And wishes, and denies,—Lest interview annul a wantThat image satisfies.”
“A precious, mouldering pleasure ’t is To meet an antique book, In just the dress his century wore; A privilege, I think.”
