Emily Dickinson

A curious Cloud surprised the Sky,

Summary


"A curious Cloud surprised the Sky" is a short poem that turns an ordinary sky into a small drama. A strange, antlered cloud drifts in against a sheet of blue, hanging so low it nearly brushes the lawns. Then it changes. It rises, grows statelier, and trails away like royal robes. In just a few lines, Dickinson's playful wonder gives way to awe, and the speaker compares the cloud to a queen.

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A curious Cloud surprised the Sky,
’Twas like a sheet with Horns;
The sheet was Blue—
The Antlers Gray—
It almost touched the lawns.

A gray antlered cloud leans low over a green lawn in an illustration for Emily Dickinson's "A curious Cloud surprised the Sky"

So low it leaned—then statelier drew—
And trailed like robes away,
A Queen adown a satin aisle
Had not the majesty.

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Credits

Emily Dickinson was a 19th-century American poet from Amherst, Massachusetts, known for her compact, dash-filled verse and her sharp attention to nature. This poem reflects her habit of turning a passing weather moment into a vivid, regal image.