A Dew sufficed itself－1
And satisfied a Leaf
And felt "how vast a destiny"－
"How trivial is Life!"
The Sun went out to work－5
The Day went out to play
And not again that Dew be seen
By Physiognomy
Whether by Day Abducted 9
Or emptied by the Sun
Into the Sea in passing
Eternally unknown
Attested to this Day 13
That awful Tragedy
By Transport's instability
And Doom's celerity.
And satisfied a Leaf
And felt "how vast a destiny"－
"How trivial is Life!"
The Sun went out to work－5
The Day went out to play
And not again that Dew be seen
By Physiognomy
Whether by Day Abducted 9
Or emptied by the Sun
Into the Sea in passing
Eternally unknown
Attested to this Day 13
That awful Tragedy
By Transport's instability
And Doom's celerity.
(F.1372/J.1437)
[1] Dew:: fresh new writing, Dickinson's poems.
[2] Leaf:: one of the folds of a folded sheet of paper (OED 7a).
[3, 4] Destiny, Life:: content of her poems.
[5] Sun:: the authority (of literature, religion, etc.).
[6] Day:: the current fashion in literature.
[7, 8] not see, Physiognomy:: her poems being riddled.
[9] abducted:: followed unwillingly the fashion.
[10] emptied:: banned by the authority.
[11] Sea:: the vastness of the literature world.
[12] Eternally unknown:: the unknown fate of her poems.
[13] Attested, Day:: the poems witnessed her days.
[14] awful Tragedy:: indicating her true life sealed in her poems.
[15] Transport:: the conveyance of her views. instability:: imprecision of her poems.
[16] Doom's celerity:: the swiftness of death's coming in her poems, even when she was still young.