The Poems of Emily Dickinson, Variorum Edition, Franklin, 1998
Emily Dickinson Archive
Had I not This, or This, I said,Appealing to Myself, In moment of prosperity - Inadequate - were Life - "Thou hast not Me, nor Me" - it said,In moment of Reverse - "And yet Thou art industrious - No need - hadsthad'st Thou - of us -"? My need - was all I had - I said The need did not reduce -Because the food - exterminate - The hunger - does not cease -But diligence - is sharper - Proportioned to the chance - To feed opon the Retrogade -Enfeebles - the Advance -