Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924. |
Part Two: Nature
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| “WHOSE are the little beds,” I asked, | |
| “Which in the valleys lie?” | |
| Some shook their heads, and others smiled, | |
| And no one made reply. | |
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| “Perhaps they did not hear,” I said; | 5 |
| “I will inquire again. | |
| Whose are the beds, the tiny beds | |
| So thick upon the plain?” | |
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| “’T is daisy in the shortest; | |
| A little farther on, | 10 |
| Nearest the door to wake the first, | |
| Little leontodon. | |
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| “’T is iris, sir, and aster, | |
| Anemone and bell, | |
| Batschia in the blanket red, | 15 |
| And chubby daffodil.” | |
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| Meanwhile at many cradles | |
| Her busy foot she plied, | |
| Humming the quaintest lullaby | |
| That ever rocked a child. | 20 |
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| “Hush! Epigea wakens! | |
| The crocus stirs her lids, | |
| Rhodora’s cheek is crimson,— | |
| She’s dreaming of the woods.” | |
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| Then, turning from them, reverent, | 25 |
| “Their bed-time ’t is,” she said; | |
| “The bumble-bees will wake them | |
| When April woods are red.” | |
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