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I heard, as if I had no Ear

Emily Dickinson

1039

I heard, as if I had no Ear
Until a Vital Word
Came all the way from Life to me
And then I knew I heard.

I saw, as if my Eye were on
Another, till a Thing
And now I know ’twas Light, because
It fitted them, came in.

I dwelt, as if Myself, were out,
My Body but within
Until a Might detected me
And set my kernel in.

And Spirit turned unto the Dust
“Old Friend, thou knowest me,”
And Time went out to tell the News
And met Eternity.
Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinsonn | Written c. 1865
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