Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924. |
Part One: Life
IV
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| ’T IS so much joy! ’T is so much joy! | |
| If I should fail, what poverty! | |
| And yet, as poor as I | |
| Have ventured all upon a throw; | |
| Have gained! Yes! Hesitated so | 5 |
| This side the victory! | |
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| Life is but life, and death but death! | |
| Bliss is but bliss, and breath but breath! | |
| And if, indeed, I fail, | |
| At least to know the worst is sweet. | 10 |
| Defeat means nothing but defeat, | |
| No drearier can prevail! | |
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| And if I gain,—oh, gun at sea, | |
| Oh, bells that in the steeples be, | |
| At first repeat it slow! | 15 |
| For heaven is a different thing | |
| Conjectured, and waked sudden in, | |
| And might o’erwhelm me so! | |
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