Retrospect
Retrospect
Original Text
Poems (1890-1896) by Emily Dickinson: A Facsimile Reproduction of the Original Volumes Issued in 1890, 1891, and 1896, with an Introduction by George Monteiro (Gainesville, Florida: Scholars' Facsimiles).
1'Twas just this time, last year, I died.
2 I know I heard the corn,
3When I was carried by the farms,--
5I thought how yellow it would look
6 When Richard went to mill;
7And then I wanted to get out,
8 But something held my will.
9I thought just how red apples wedged
10 The stubble's joints between;
11And carts went stooping round the fields
12 To take the pumpkins in.
13I wondered which would miss me least,
14 And when Thanksgiving came,
15If Father'd multiply the plates
16 To make an even sum.
18 Would it blur the Christmas glee,
20 The altitude of me?
21But this sort grieved myself, and so
Notes
4] tassels: fine hairs found at the end of corn husks Back to Line
17] The existing manuscript version of poem 445, The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson, edited by R. W. Franklin in two volumes (Cambridge, Mass., and London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981: I, 349-50; fascicle 16; PS 1541 A1 1981 ROBA), reads:
And would it blur the Christmas gleeBack to Line
My stocking hang too high
19] The existing manuscript version reads "For any Santa Claus to reach". Back to Line
22] The existing manuscript version reads "And so I thought the other way". Back to Line
23] When: the existing manuscript version reads "How". Back to Line
24] Themselves: the existing manuscript version reads "Themself". Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1896
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1997
Rhyme