The butterfly’s assumption-gown,
In chrysoprase apartments hung,
This afternoon put on.
How condescending to descend,
And be of buttercups the friend
In a New England town!
Credits
Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) was an American poet from Amherst, Massachusetts, now regarded as one of the most original voices in 19th-century literature. She spent much of her life in quiet seclusion, yet produced nearly 1,800 poems, the vast majority unpublished in her lifetime. "The Butterfly's Assumption-Gown" reflects her characteristic delight in the natural world, using a single observed moment to hint at something far grander.
