Thursday, April 17, 2008

In My Pocket Today

What are YOU carrying today? (Have you forgotten it's Poem in Your Pocket Day?) Here's what I have tucked away. It is a little gem written by Emily Dickinson.
Poem 318
I'll tell you how the Sun rose—
A Ribbon at a time—
The Steeples swam in Amethyst—
The news, like Squirrels, ran—
The Hills untied their Bonnets—
The Bobolinks—begun—
Then I said softly to myself—
"That must have been the Sun"!
But how he set—I know not—
There seemed a purple stile
That little Yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while—
Till when they reached the other side,
A Dominie in Gray—
Put gently up the evening Bars—
And led the flock away—
In case some of these words have you scratching your head, here are a few definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary.
  • Bobolink - A North American singing-bird (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), which appears in the northern states in spring, and returns southwards at the end of summer. Called also Reed-bird and Rice-bird.
  • Stile - An arrangement of steps, rungs, or the like, contrived to allow passage over or through a fence to one person at a time, while forming a barrier to the passage of sheep or cattle.
  • Dominie - A schoolmaster, pedagogue.
Why don't you join the fun? Put a poem in your pocket and share it today!

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