Delayed till she had ceased to know

by Emily Dickinson

• DELAYED till she had ceased to know,
• Delayed till in its vest of snow
• Her loving bosom lay.
• An hour behind the fleeting breath,
• Later by just an hour than death,—

• Oh, lagging yesterday!

• Could she have guessed that it would be;
• Could but a crier of the glee
• Have climbed the distant hill;
• Had not the bliss so slow a pace,—
• Who knows but this surrendered face

• Were undefeated still?

• Oh, if there may departing be
• Any forgot by victory
• In her imperial round,
• Show them this meek apparelled thing,
• That could not stop to be a king,
• Doubtful if it be crowned!