45. “As imperceptibly as grief.” Part Two: Nature. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems

Verse > Emily Dickinson > Complete Poems > II. Nature > 45. “As imperceptibly as grief”

Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924.

Part Two: Nature

XLV

AS imperceptibly as grief
The summer lapsed away,—
Too imperceptible, at last,
To seem like perfidy.

A quietness distilled,	5
As twilight long begun,
Or Nature, spending with herself
Sequestered afternoon.

The dusk drew earlier in,
The morning foreign shone,—	10
A courteous, yet harrowing grace,
As guest who would be gone.

And thus, without a wing,
Or service of a keel,
Our summer made her light escape	15
Into the beautiful.