Emily Dickinson

A Service of Song

Summary


A Service of Song is a short poem by Emily Dickinson in which a speaker skips the church pew and keeps the Sabbath at home. A bobolink leads the choir, an orchard arches overhead as a dome, and a little sexton sings in place of a tolling bell. God himself becomes the preacher, and his sermon is mercifully brief. With gentle humor and quiet defiance, the speaker finds heaven not at the end of a journey but in the birdsong of an ordinary morning.

Listen to audio


Read Online

SOME keep the Sabbath going to church;
I keep it staying at home,
With a bobolink for a chorister,
And an orchard for a dome.

Some keep the Sabbath in surplice;
I just wear my wings,
And instead of tolling the bell for church,
Our little sexton sings.

God preaches,—a noted clergyman,—
And the sermon in never long;
So instead of getting to heaven at last,
I’m going all along!

Add Ririro as a Preferred Source on Google
Related tags
, , , , , , ,

Credits

Emily Dickinson was a reclusive 19th-century American poet, best known for her compact, dash-filled verse on nature, faith, and mortality. Her own habit of staying home on Sundays gives this poem a personal, playful edge.