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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Browse alphabetically through more than 9,000 words in Dickinson’s poetry, as defined in the Emily Dickinson Lexicon, based in part on her dictionary, Webster's 1844 American Dictionary of the English Language.

Amherst - Amherst Manuscript # 229 - How soft a caterpillar steps - asc:1255 - p. 1

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Credits: Amherst College, Amherst MA
Amherst Manuscript # 229
Amherst - Amherst Manuscript # 229 - How soft a caterpillar steps - asc:1255 - p. 1

Publication History
BM (1945), 302, among the poems incomplete or unfinished, as a ten-line stanza, including, in brackets, two of the canceled lines between 4-5. Alternatives for lines 3 and 7 ("circuit quaint") were adopted. Poems (1955), 1003; CP (1960), 615, with the underscored alternative not adopted. (J1448). Franklin Variorum 1998 (F1523A).
-History from Franklin Variorum 1998

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Imported

2013-10-21 12:50:40 -0400

Identifiers

Amherst Manuscript # 229
Franklin # 1523
Johnson Poems # 1448

Shelf Location

Box 3 Folder 66

Title

How soft a caterpillar steps

Amherst Location

https://acdc.amherst.edu/view/asc:1253

Accession Number

asc:1255

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Text

Edition Edit Work

J1448 - How soft a Caterpillar steps --

How soft a Caterpillar steps --
I find one on my Hand
From such a velvet world it came comes
Such plushes at command
It's soundless travels just arrest
My slow -- terrestrial eye
Intent upon it's mission quaint Intent upon it's own career
What use has it for me --

About Work

First Line/Title: How soft a Caterpillar steps --
Date: 1878
Edition: Johnson Poems 1955
Number: J1448

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Work Metadata

Year: 1878
Manuscript: Manuscript: Perhaps about 1878, in pencil (Bingham 102-25). It is a worksheet draft jotted down on the back of a torn bill or circular. Following line 4 ED made a start at what was evidently intended as a second stanza, and then crossed it out: It's journey never wakes my Hand Till poising for a turn it's traverse
Publications: Publication: BM (1945), 302. It is placed among the unfinished poems. The first two lines of the crossed-out section are printed in brackets. The suggested change for line 3 is adopted. Line 7 reads: Intent upon its circuit quaint

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Related Works in Other Editions

F1523A - How soft a caterpillar steps

The Poems of Emily Dickinson, Variorum Edition, Franklin, 1998