26. “The props assist the house.” Part Five: The Single Hound. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems

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

Part Five: The Single Hound

XXVI

THE PROPS assist the house
Until the house is built,
And then the props withdraw—
And adequate, erect,
The house supports itself;	5
Ceasing to recollect
The auger and the carpenter.
Just such a retrospect
Hath the perfected life,
A past of plank and nail,	10
And slowness,—then the scaffolds drop—
Affirming it a soul.