A Day

Emily Dickinson(1830–1886)

1890

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 stileWhich little yellow boys and girlsWere climbing all the while

Till when they reached the other side,A dominie in grayPut gently up the evening bars,And led the flock away.

From Poems (1890), the first published collection, via the English Wikisource transcription.

Public domainThis poem is in the public domain. You may read it, copy it, recite it and publish it without asking anyone.