Quote#Nature
Upon the gallows hung a wretch
Quote byEmily Dickinson · 1830–1886
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Upon the gallows hung a wretch (B).
English (original)
Upon the gallows hung a wretch, Too sullied for the hell To which the law entitled him. As nature’s curtain fell The one who bore him tottered in, For this was woman’s son. "'Twas all I had," she stricken gasped; Oh, what a livid boon!
— Emily Dickinson
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God is sitting here, looking into my very soul to see if I think right thoughts. Yet I am not afraid, for I try to be right and good; and He knows every one of my struggles.
Friday I tasted life. It was a vast morsel. A circus passed the house — still I feel the red in my mind though the drums are out. [...] The lawn is full of south and the odors tangle, and I hear to-day for the first the river in the tree.
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To live is so startling, it leaves but little room for other occupations.