One dignity delays for all —
by Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)
One dignity delays for all,
One mitred afternoon.
None can avoid this purple,
None evade this crown.
Coach it insures, and footmen,
Chamber and state and throng ;
Bells, also, in the village,
As we ride grand along.
What dignified attendants,
What service when we pause !
How loyally at parting
Their hundred hats they raise !
How pomp surpassing ermine,
When simple you and I
Present our meek escutcheon,
And claim the rank to die !
More poems by Emily Dickinson
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Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves— …
-
There is a pain — so utter —
It swallows substance up —
Then covers the Abyss with Trance — …
-
A charm invests a face
Imperfectly beheld.
The lady dare not lift her veil …
-
There came a Wind like a Bugle —
It quivered through the Grass
And a Green Chill upon the Heat …
All poems by Emily Dickinson →