Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, (* 10. Dezember 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, † 15. Mai 1886 ebenda) gilt als bedeutende amerikanische Dichterin. Ihre Gedichte, erstmals 1890 nach ihrem Tod gedruckt, passen stilistisch vielfach eher ins 20. Jahrhundert.






Wild nights

WILD nights! Wild nights!  
Were I with thee,  
Wild nights should be  
Our luxury!  
 
Futile the winds          
To a heart in port,—  
Done with the compass,  
Done with the chart.  
 
Rowing in Eden!  
Ah! the sea!        
Might I but moor  
To-night in thee!


The moon is distant from the sea

THE MOON is distant from the sea,  
And yet with amber hands  
She leads him, docile as a boy,  
Along appointed sands.  
 
He never misses a degree;        
Obedient to her eye,  
He comes just so far toward the town,  
Just so far goes away.  
 
Oh, Signor, thine the amber hand,  
And mine the distant sea,—        
Obedient to the least command  
Thine eyes impose on me.



I have no life but this

I HAVE no life but this,  
To lead it here;  
Nor any death, but lest  
Dispelled from there;  
 
Nor tie to earths to come,        
Nor action new,  
Except through this extent,  
The realm of you.