Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)
#617, Don't put up My Thread and Needle
Don't put up my Thread and Needle —
I'll begin to Sew
When the Birds begin to whistle —
Better Stitches — so —
These were bent — my sight got crooked —
When my mind — is plain
I'll do seams — a Queen's endeavor
Would not blush to own —
Hems — too fine for Lady's tracing
To the sightless Knot —
Tucks — of dainty interspersion —
Like a dotted Dot —
Leave my Needle in the furrow —
Where I put it down —
I can make the zigzag stitches
Straight — when I am strong —
Till then — dreaming I am sewing
Fetch the seam I missed —
Closer — so I — at my sleeping —
Still surmise I stitch —
Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) is one of the foremost American poets of the 19th century. She spent her life in Amherst, Massachussetts where she was the daughter of a prominent family. Very few of her poems were published in her lifetime, and the eccentricities of her punctuation, diction, capitalization, and style continue to mystify and intrigue readers. You can see the handwritten version of this poem here: https://dickinsonsbirds.org/project/poems/485. This poem can be found in Emily Dickinson: Selected and Edited by Helen McNeil (Weidenfield and Nicholson, 2022).
Amy Frykholm: afrykholm@gmail.com
