I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea;
Yet know I how the heather looks,
And what a billow be.

I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the checks were given.

1865? 1890

J. 581

I found the phrase to every thought
I ever had, but one;
And that defies me,
As a hand did try to chalk the sun.

To races nurtured in the dark;--
How would your own begin?
Can blaze be done in cochineal ¹
Or noon in mazarin? ²

1862? 1891

1. A red dye
2. Reddish-blue

J. 712

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stop for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring:
We passed the fields of gazing grain.
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice in the ground.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

1863? 1890

J. 1510

How happy is the little stone
That rambles in the road alone,
And doesn't care about careers,
And exigencies never fears;
Whose coat of elemental brown
A passing universe put on;
And independent as the sun,
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute decree
In casual simplicity.

1881? 1891