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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

What would I give to see
Language: English 
What would I give to see
His face?
I'd give—I'd give my life
Of course,
But that is not enough!
Stop just a minute, let
Me think—
I'd give my biggest bobolink!
That makes two—him and life.
You know who June is?
I'd give her,
Roses a day from Zanzibar,
And lily tubes, like wells;
Bees by the furlong,
Straits of blue
Navies of butterflies sailed through,
And dappled cowslip dells.
Then I have "shares" in
Primrose "banks,"
Daffodil "dowries," spicy "stocks,"
Dominions broad as dew,
Bags of doubloons, adventurous
Bees
Brought me from firmamental seas,
And purple from Peru.
Now, have I bought it,
Shylock? Say!
Sign me the bond!
I vow to pay
To him who pledges this—
One hour of her sov'reign's
Face!
Ecstatic contract!
Niggard grace!
My kingdom's worth of bliss!

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Emily Dickinson, Further Poems of Emily Dickinson, Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1929, p.150


Text Authorship:

  • by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947), "A Kingdom's Worth of Bliss", 2006, copyright © 2006 [ mezzo-soprano, satb chorus and piano ]
        Score: Gwyneth Walker [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947), "Bliss", 2008/2009, copyright © 2008 [ mezzo-soprano, violin, viola, violoncello and piano ], from The Poet's Heart, no. 3, E.C.Schirmer
        Publisher: ECS Publishing [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-02-19
Line count: 35
Word count: 135

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