The Mind

Most she touched me

by Emily Dickinson 1830–1886

From Further Poems of Emily Dickinson (1929)

The Mind

Most she touched me
By her muteness;
Most she won me
By the way
She presented her small
Figure—
Plea for charity.
Were a crumb my whole
Possession,
Were there famine in
The land,
Were it my resource
From starving,
Could I such a face
Withstand?
Not upon her knee
To thank me
Sank this Beggar
From the sky,
But the crumb partook,
Departed,
And returned on high
I supposed, when sudden—
Such a praise began,
'Twas as Space sat singing
To herself and Man.
'Twas the wingéd Beggar
Afterward I learned,
To her benefactor
Paying gratitude.

MLA

Dickinson, Emily. “Most she touched me.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/dickinson/545/.

Chicago

Dickinson, Emily. “Most she touched me.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/dickinson/545/.

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