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A continuing selection of classic and contemporary poems.

The first Day that I was a Life

Emily Dickinson

902

The first Day that I was a Life
I recollect it—How still—
That last Day that I was a Life
I recollect it—as well—

’Twas stiller—though the first
Was still—
“Twas empty—but the first
Was full—

This—was my finallest Occasion—
But then
My tenderer Experiment
Toward Men—

“Which choose I”?
That—I cannot say—
“Which choose They”?
Question Memory!
Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson | Written c. 1864
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