Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)
A Loss of Something Ever Felt I
A loss of something ever felt I
The first that I could recollect
Bereft I was of what I knew not
Too young that any should suspect
A Mourner walked among the children
I notwithstanding went about
As one bemoaning a Dominion Itself
the only Prince cast out
Elder, Today, a session wiser
And fainter, too, as Wiseness is
I find myself still softly searching
For my Delinquent Palaces
And a Suspicion, like a Finger
Touches my Forehead now and then
That I am looking oppositely
For the site of the Kingdom of Heaven
Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) is one of the foremost American poets of the 19th century. She spent her life in Amherst, Massachusetts where she was the daughter of a prominent family. Very few of her poems were published in her lifetime, and the eccentricities of her punctuation, diction, capitalization, and style continue to mystify and intrigue readers.
Selected by Amy Frykholm: amy@journeywithjesus.net
