Excerpt from Nature

by Emily Dickinson, 1830–86

A dew sufficed itself

  And satisfied a leaf,

And felt, “how vast a destiny!

  How trivial is life!”

  

The sun went out to work,

  The day went out to play,

But not again that dew was seen

  By physiognomy.

  

Whether by day abducted,

  Or emptied by the sun

Into the sea, in passing,

  Eternally unknown.

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Photograph: Sunflower field, McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area