I had some things that I called mine－1
And God, that he called his,
Till, recently a rival Claim
Disturbed these amities.
The property, my garden,5
Which having sown with care,
He claims the pretty acre,
And sends a Bailiff there.
The station of the parties9
Forbids publicity,
But Justice is sublimer
Than arms, or pedigree.
I'll institute an "Action"－13
I'll vindicate the law－
Jove! Choose your counsel－
I retain "Shaw"!
And God, that he called his,
Till, recently a rival Claim
Disturbed these amities.
The property, my garden,5
Which having sown with care,
He claims the pretty acre,
And sends a Bailiff there.
The station of the parties9
Forbids publicity,
But Justice is sublimer
Than arms, or pedigree.
I'll institute an "Action"－13
I'll vindicate the law－
Jove! Choose your counsel－
I retain "Shaw"!
(F.101/J.116)
[2] God:: the nature.
[3, 4] rival, amities:: a fight between garden plants and wild plants.
[7] claims:: the nature invades Dickinson's garden by wild plants.
[8] Bailiff:: an officer with a beard, Jove's Beard, hinted in line 15.
[9] parties:: plants like Jove's beard, Jove's fruit, or Jove's nut.
[10] Forbids publicity:: the wild plants blocked the garden.
[13] Action:: a suit in the court.
[15] Jove:: exclamation and the hint.
[16] retain:: to keep possession of, and to hire a counselor. Shaw:: a grove, and Lemuel Shaw, 1781–1861, a famous American jurist.
The gardener was to have Jove's beard (what we call house-leek) growing on the roof of his cottage. ─ The great events of history (1860)
The principal other species of the bay or laurus are the geniculated, the whitish-leaved, Jove's fruit, and Catesby's, hardy, ornamental, deciduous shrubs; ─ The Rural Cyclopedia (1852)
