GOD permits industrious angels
Afternoons to play.
I met one,—forgot my school-mates,
All, for him, straightway.
God calls home the angels promptly
At the setting sun;
I missed mine. How dreary marbles,
After playing Crown!
Playmates
Summary
Playmates by Emily Dickinson is a short poem that imagines a child making friends with an angel on a free afternoon. Dazzled by the new companion, the speaker forgets every school-mate and plays only with the heavenly visitor. Then the setting sun calls the angels home, and the child is left behind. Ordinary games of marbles now feel dreary beside the memory of playing Crown. It is a small, tender portrait of delight and loss.
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