Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924. |
Part One: Life
XV
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| I KNOW some lonely houses off the road | |
| A robber ’d like the look of,— | |
| Wooden barred, | |
| And windows hanging low, | |
| Inviting to | 5 |
| A portico, | |
| |
| Where two could creep: | |
| One hand the tools, | |
| The other peep | |
| To make sure all ’s asleep. | 10 |
| Old-fashioned eyes, | |
| Not easy to surprise! | |
| |
| How orderly the kitchen ’d look by night, | |
| With just a clock,— | |
| But they could gag the tick, | 15 |
| And mice won’t bark; | |
| And so the walls don’t tell, | |
| None will. | |
| |
| A pair of spectacles ajar just stir— | |
| An almanac’s aware. | 20 |
| Was it the mat winked, | |
| Or a nervous star? | |
| The moon slides down the stair | |
| To see who ’s there. | |
| |
| There ’s plunder,—where? | 25 |
| Tankard, or spoon, | |
| Earring, or stone, | |
| A watch, some ancient brooch | |
| To match the grandmamma, | |
| Staid sleeping there. | 30 |
| |
| Day rattles, too, | |
| Stealth ’s slow; | |
| The sun has got as far | |
| As the third sycamore. | |
| Screams chanticleer, | 35 |
| “Who ’s there?” | |
| |
| And echoes, trains away, | |
| Sneer—“Where?” | |
| While the old couple, just astir, | |
| Think that the sunrise left the door ajar! | 40 |
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