Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924. |
Part Two: Nature
XX
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| ARCTURUS is his other name,— | |
| I ’d rather call him star! | |
| It ’s so unkind of science | |
| To go and interfere! | |
| |
| I pull a flower from the woods,— | 5 |
| A monster with a glass | |
| Computes the stamens in a breath, | |
| And has her in a class. | |
| |
| Whereas I took the butterfly | |
| Aforetime in my hat, | 10 |
| He sits erect in cabinets, | |
| The clover-bells forgot. | |
| |
| What once was heaven, is zenith now. | |
| Where I proposed to go | |
| When time’s brief masquerade was done, | 15 |
| Is mapped, and charted too! | |
| |
| What if the poles should frisk about | |
| And stand upon their heads! | |
| I hope I ’m ready for the worst, | |
| Whatever prank betides! | 20 |
| |
| Perhaps the kingdom of Heaven’s changed! | |
| I hope the children there | |
| Won’t be new-fashioned when I come, | |
| And laugh at me, and stare! | |
| |
| I hope the father in the skies | 25 |
| Will lift his little girl,— | |
| Old-fashioned, naughty, everything,— | |
| Over the stile of pearl! | |
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