28.6.08

Bowing...



"By The Sea


I started early, took my dog,
And visited the sea;
The mermaids in the basement
Came out to look at me.

And frigates in the upper floor
Extended hempen hands,
Presuming me to be a mouse
Aground, upon the sands.

But no man moved me till the tide
Went past my simple shoe,
And past my apron and my belt,
And past my bodice too,

And made as he would eat me up
As wholly as a dew
Upon a dandelion's sleeve -
And then I started too.

And he - he followed close behind;
I felt his silver heel
Upon my ankle, - then my shoes
Would overflow with pearl.

Until we met the solid town,
No man he seemed to know;
And bowing with a mighty look
At me, the sea withdrew."

Emily Dickinson
The Wave...Gustave Corbet(1819-1879)

4 comments:

MILLY said...

Just enjoyed your blog. Recently visited Bronte village. Love Authur Rackhams work. You have lots of beautiful illustrations here, a lovely blog.

Autumn said...

That is really pretty!
And the picture was lovely too.

HAWTHORN HALL said...

It's a really beautiful poem and lovely painting. You must have a wonderful library of books.

Gillian

The Dutchess said...

Dear Autumn.thank you,and nice to see you found Everly....

Dearest Gillian.Just yesterday we counted the books in our house,and became worried...about 3000! I think we are a bit book crazy..