For Emily Dickinson

To bear a mental pain
Requires a fortitude
Exact as chiseled stone,
Contained as carven wood.

You knew the sharp impact
Of mallet swung on rock.
You knew the curving groove
Of guided tool through oak.

What great travail was yours
To make your lines run straight
Beneath the freight they bore
I dare not contemplate.

RUTH BRANDES DE BEDTS.