Forbidden Fruit. I.

Forbidden fruit a flavor has
That lawful orchards mocks;
How luscious lies the pea within
The pod that Duty locks!

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, born on December 10, 1830, and died on May 15, 1886, was an American poet who is extensively known for her innovative and poignant use of language and form. Her work, largely unpublished and unknown during her lifetime, has since positioned her among the greatest American poets. Although she seldom left her home, her poetry delved deeply into themes of death, immortality, nature, and human consciousness. Dickinson's unique style continues to influence poets and readers today.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

The Chariot.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, Simple Poetry

The Dying Need But Little, Dear,

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, Simple Poetry

The Inevitable.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, Simple Poetry

Contrast.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, Simple Poetry

English

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Forbidden Fruit. II.

Heaven is what I cannot reach!
The apple on the tree,
Provided it do hopeless hang,
That 'heaven' is, to me.

The color on the cruising cloud,
The interdicted ground
Behind the hill, the house behind, --
There Paradise is found!

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

Apple Blossoms.

    Of all the lovely blossoms
    That decorate the trees,
    And shower down their petals
    With every breath of breeze,
There is nothing so sweet or fair to me
As the delicate blooms of the apple tree.

    A thousand shrubs and flow'rets
    Delicious pleasure bring,
    But beautiful Pomona
    Must be the queen of spring;
And out of her flagon the peach and pear
Their chalices fill with essence rare.

    Oh, is it any wonder,
    Devoid of blight or flaw,
    The peerless blooms of Eden
    Our primal mother saw
In redolent beauty before her placed
So tempted fair Eve the fruit to taste?

    But woman's love of apples,
    Involving fearful price,
    And Adam's love for woman
    That cost him Paradise,
...

Hattie Howard

"So Bashful When I Spied Her,"

So bashful when I spied her,
So pretty, so ashamed!
So hidden in her leaflets,
Lest anybody find;

So breathless till I passed her,
So helpless when I turned
And bore her, struggling, blushing,
Her simple haunts beyond!

For whom I robbed the dingle,
For whom betrayed the dell,
Many will doubtless ask me,
But I shall never tell!

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

Possession.

Did the harebell loose her girdle
To the lover bee,
Would the bee the harebell hallow
Much as formerly?

Did the paradise, persuaded,
Yield her moat of pearl,
Would the Eden be an Eden,
Or the earl an earl?

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

The Fruit-Gift

Last night, just as the tints of autumns sky
Of sunset faded from our hills and streams,
I sat, vague listening, lapped in twilight dreams,
To the leafs rustle, and the crickets cry.

Then, like that basket, flush with summer fruit,
Dropped by the angels at the Prophets foot,
Came, unannounced, a gift of clustered sweetness,
Full-orbed, and glowing with the prisoned beams
Of summery suns, and rounded to completeness
By kisses of the south-wind and the dew.
Thrilled with a glad surprise, methought I knew
The pleasure of the homeward-turning Jew,
When Eshcols clusters on his shoulders lay,
Dropping their sweetness on his desert way.

I said, This fruit beseems no world of sin.
Its parent vine, rooted in Paradise,
Oercrept the wall, and never pai...

John Greenleaf Whittier

My Rose.

Pigmy seraphs gone astray,
Velvet people from Vevay,
Belles from some lost summer day,
Bees' exclusive coterie.
Paris could not lay the fold
Belted down with emerald;
Venice could not show a cheek
Of a tint so lustrous meek.
Never such an ambuscade
As of brier and leaf displayed
For my little damask maid.
I had rather wear her grace
Than an earl's distinguished face;
I had rather dwell like her
Than be Duke of Exeter
Royalty enough for me
To subdue the bumble-bee!

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson