Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924.

Part One: Life

XXXVIII

THROUGH the straight pass of suffering

The martyrs even trod,

Their feet upon temptation,

Their faces upon God.

A stately, shriven company;

Convulsion playing round,

Harmless as streaks of meteor

Upon a plant’s bound.

Their faith the everlasting troth;

Their expectation fair;

The needle to the north degree

Wades so, through polar air.