“He preached upon ‘breadth’ till it argued him narrow—­
The broad are too broad to define;
And of ‘truth’ until it proclaimed him a liar—­
The truth never flaunted a sign. 
Simplicity fled from his counterfeit presence
As gold the pyrites would shun. 
What confusion would cover the innocent Jesus
To meet so enabled a man!”

The “so enabled a man” is a very characteristic Dickinsonian phrase.  So, too, are these: 

“He put the belt around my life—­
I heard the buckle snap.” 
“Unfitted by an instant’s grace
For the contented beggar’s face
I wore an hour ago.”

* * * * *

“Just his sigh, accented,
Had been legible to me.”

* * * * *

“The bustle in a house
The morning after death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon earth—­
The sweeping up the heart,
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity.”

Her interest in all the familiar sights and sounds of a village garden is evident through all her verses.  Her illustrations are not recondite, literary, or conventional; she finds them at her own door.  The robin, the buttercup, the maple, furnish what she needs.  The bee, in particular, seems to have had a peculiar fascination for her, and hums through all her poems.  She had even a kindly word for that “neglected son of genius,” the spider.  Her love of children is equally evident, and no one has ever better caught the spirit of

    “Saturday Afternoon

    “From all the jails the boys and girls
      Ecstatically leap,
    Beloved, only afternoon
      That prison doesn’t keep.

    “They storm the earth and stun the air,
      A mob of solid bliss. 
    Alas! that frowns could lie in wait
      For such a foe as this!”

The bold extravagance of her diction (which is not, however, mere extravagance) and her ultra-American familiarity with the forces of nature may be illustrated by such stanzas as: 

“What if the poles should frisk about
And stand upon their heads! 
I hope I’m ready for the worst,
Whatever prank betides.”

* * * * *

“If I could see you in a year,
I’d wind the months in balls,
And put them each in separate drawers
Until their time befalls.

“If certain, when this life was out,
That yours and mine should be,
I’d toss it yonder like a rind,
And taste eternity.”