New feet within my garden go－1
New fingers stir the sod－
A Troubadour upon the Elm
Betrays the solitude.
New children play upon the green－5
New Weary sleep below－
And still the pensive Spring returns－
And still the punctual snow!
New fingers stir the sod－
A Troubadour upon the Elm
Betrays the solitude.
New children play upon the green－5
New Weary sleep below－
And still the pensive Spring returns－
And still the punctual snow!
(F.79/J.99)
[1] New feet, go:: a spring wagtail and its birdlings came to the garden.
[3, 4] Troubadour, solitude:: song of the bird.
[5] children:: the birdlings.
[6] sleep below:: their nest under bushes.
[7] pensive:: with anxiety or melancholy, of the bird's constant tail wagging. Spring:: a hint on spring wagtail.
[8] punctual snow:: white dots in the bird's belly.
Weary Sleep below Dickinson's Poems
[1] New feet:: new poems.
[2] sod:: fellow, chap (OED n.3 2a).
[3] Elm:: with reference to the practice of training vines on elms (OED 3); trimming her poems.
[4] solitude:: Dickinson's seclusion.
[5] children:: her creation.
[6] Weary sleep below:: her weariness sealed below her words.
[7] Spring returns:: poems of original creation being rejected.
[8] snow:: coldness, indifference.
The generic characters of the wagtails are: the bill still more slender than that of the warblers; the tail very long, and in continual motion upward and downward . . . The nest is in a tuft or under a bush upon the ground.——The British Cyclopaedia (1838)