I’ve been gone for quite some time, and I’m so, so sorry, but you see, I have four weddings to attend in the span of four weeks (only one left!) and that, plus other travels, have taken me to Providence, Rhode Island, Ohio and Boston. So needless to say, I’m a little tired. I thought that I would spend my many hours in transit, however, catching up on some reading I really should have done in high school, so I took the collected poems of Emily Dickinson out of the library. I think in high school, I found her work too quaint and formal for my tastes, but then recently I was thinking about poem 260 (“I’m Nobody! Who are you?) and I figured I ought to give it another shot. If you want don’t want your baggage to go overboard or your mind to feel sharp and lively, though, I wouldn’t recommend it. The below, though, took me aback; my reaction perhaps belies my mature exterior.
159
A little bread –– a crust –– a crumb —
A little trust — a demijohn —
Can keep the soul alive —
Not portly, mind! but breathing — warm —
Conscious — as old Napoleon,
The night before the Crown!
A modest lot — A fame petite —
A brief Campaign of sting and sweet
Is plenty! Is enough!
A sailor’s business is the shore!
A Soldier’s — balls! Who asketh more,
Must seek the neighboring life!
Itinerantdaughter's Blog 