How many times these low feet staggered,
Only the soldered mouth can tell;
Try! can you stir the awful rivet?
Try! can you lift the hasps of steel?
Stroke the cool forehead, hot so often,
Lift, if you can, the listless hair;
Handle the adamantine fingers
Never a thimble more shall wear.
Buzz the dull flies on the chamber window;
Brave shines the sun through the freckled pane;
Fearless the cobweb swings from the ceiling—
Indolent housewife, in daisies lain!
Credits
Emily Dickinson was a 19th-century American poet whose work remained largely unpublished during her lifetime, yet she is now considered one of the most original voices in the English language. Known for her slant rhyme, compressed imagery, and unflinching engagement with mortality, Dickinson brings all three qualities to bear in this poem, where the domestic details of thimbles and cobwebs become quietly devastating.
