Emily Dickinson

10 December 1830 – 15 May 1886 / Amherst / Massachusetts

Conscious Am I In My Chamber

679

Conscious am I in my Chamber,
Of a shapeless friend—
He doth not attest by Posture—
Nor Confirm—by Word—

Neither Place—need I present Him—
Fitter Courtesy
Hospitable intuition
Of His Company—

Presence—is His furthest license—
Neither He to Me
Nor Myself to Him—by Accent—
Forfeit Probity—

Weariness of Him, were quainter
Than Monotony
Knew a Particle—of Space's
Vast Society

Neither if He visit Other—
Do He dwell—or Nay—know I—
But Instinct esteem Him
Immortality—
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