The Poems of Emily Dickinson, Variorum Edition, Franklin, 1998
Emily Dickinson Archive
I tie my Hat - I crease my Shawl -Life's little duties do - pre - ciselyprecisely - As the very least Were infinite - to me - I put new Blossoms in the Glass -And throw the Old - away - I push a petal from my Gown That anchored there - I weigh The time 'twill be till six o'clock - So much I have to do -And yet - existence - some way back - Stopped - struck - my ticking - through -We cannot put Ourself away As a completed Man Or Woman - When the er - rand'serrand's doneWe came to Flesh - opon - There may be - Miles on Miles of Nought - Of Action - sicker far - To simulate - is stinging work - To cover what we areFrom Science - and from Surgery - Too Telescopic eyes To bear on us unshaded - For their - sake - Not for Our's -Therefore - we do life's labor -Though life's Reward - be done - With scrupulous exactness - To hold our Senses - on -