10. “I died for beauty, but was scarce.” Part Four: Time and Eternity. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems

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Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924.

Part Four: Time and Eternity

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I DIED for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?	5
“For beauty,” I replied.
“And I for truth,—the two are one;
We brethren are,” he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a night,
We talked between the rooms,	10
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.