He touched me, so I live to know

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



He touched me, so I live to know
That such a day, permitted so,
I groped upon his breast—
It was a boundless place to me
And silenced, as the awful sea
Puts minor streams to rest.

And now, I'm different from before,
As if I breathed superior air—
Or brushed a Royal Gown—
My feet, too, that had wandered so—
My Gypsy face—transfigured now—
To tenderer Renown—

Into this Port, if I might come,
Rebecca, to Jerusalem,
Would not so ravished turn—
Nor Persian, baffled at her shrine
Lift such a Crucifixial sign
To her imperial Sun.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
177

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABCCB XXDAXD EEXFFX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 535
Words 100
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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    "He touched me, so I live to know" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/11683/he-touched-me,-so-i-live-to-know>.

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