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TO EMILY DICKINSON by MARY BOWEN BRAINERD

First Line: A HARP AEOLIAN, ON A LONELY SILL
Last Line: YET BEARING EVER NATURE'S SAD REFRAIN.
Subject(s): DICKINSON, EMILY (1830-1886); UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES - FACULTY; WELLESLEY COLLEGE;

A HARP AEolian, on a lonely sill
Was placed to feel the subtle wind's soft touch.
Perhaps its strains were burdened overmuch
With Nature's sadness and her discords, still,
Responsive to its master's touchless thrill,
It told the clover's whisper to the breeze,
The wordless plaint of wind-swept winter trees
With melody unknown to human skill.
So in the quiet of a life apart
From other lives, their passion and their pain,
The hand of Nature touched thy tuned heart,
And, lo, thou utterest in simple strain
A song, too thought-rich for a fettered art,
Yet bearing ever Nature's sad refrain.



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