Oh Shadow on the Grass,

It was not night, for all the bellsPut out their tongues, for noon.It was not frost, for on my fleshI felt siroccos crawl,–Nor fire, for just my marble feetCould keep a chancel cool.And yet it tasted like them all;The figures I have seenSet orderly, for burial,Reminded me of mine,As if my life were shavenAnd fitted…

I shall not fear mistake—I shall not cheated wake—Some grinning morn—To find the Sunrise left—And Orchards—unbereft—And Dollie—gone!I need not start—you’re sure—That night will never be—When frightened—home to Thee I run—To find the windows dark—And no more Dollie—mark—Quite none?Be sure you’re sure—you know—I’ll bear it better now—If you’ll just tell me so—Than when—a little dull Balm…

No Hue of Afternoon—Upon the Village I perceivedFrom House to House ’twas Noon—The Dusk kept dropping—dropping—stillNo Dew upon the Grass—But only on my Forehead stopped—And wandered in my Face—My Feet kept drowsing—drowsing—stillMy fingers were awake—Yet why so little sound—MyselfUnto my Seeming—make?How well I knew the Light before—I could see it now—‘Tis Dying—I am doing—butI’m not…

Not Burdock’s—blame—But mine—Who went too nearThe Burdock’s Den—A Bog—affronts my shoe—What else have Bogs—to do—The only Trade they know—The splashing Men!Ah, pity—then!‘Tis Minnows can despise!The Elephant’s—calm eyesLook further on!

But doom me not to forfeit Thee—To forfeit Thee? The very nameIs sentence from Belief—and House—

Why, God, would be contentWith but a fraction of the Life—Poured thee, without a stint—The whole of me—forever—What more the Woman can,Say quick, that I may dower theeWith last Delight I own!It cannot be my Spirit—For that was thine, before—I ceded all of Dust I knew—What Opulence the moreHad I—a freckled Maiden,Whose farthest of Degree,Was—that…