"Except thyself may be / Thine enemy; / Captivity is consciousness, / So 's liberty."
— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Boston
Publisher
Robert Brothers
Date
1890
Metaphor
"Except thyself may be / Thine enemy; / Captivity is consciousness, / So 's liberty."
Metaphor in Context
[XXXV. EMANCIPATION.]
No rack can torture me,
My soul's at liberty.
Behind this mortal bone
There knits a bolder one
You cannot prick with saw,
Nor rend with scymitar.
Two bodies therefore be;
Bind one, and one will flee.
The eagle of his nest
No easier divest
And gain the sky,
Than mayest thou,
Except thyself may be
Thine enemy;
Captivity is consciousness,
So 's liberty.
(p. 147)
No rack can torture me,
My soul's at liberty.
Behind this mortal bone
There knits a bolder one
You cannot prick with saw,
Nor rend with scymitar.
Two bodies therefore be;
Bind one, and one will flee.
The eagle of his nest
No easier divest
And gain the sky,
Than mayest thou,
Except thyself may be
Thine enemy;
Captivity is consciousness,
So 's liberty.
(p. 147)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Dickinson, Emily. Poems by Emily Dickinson Ed. Mael Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson (Robert Brothers: Boston, 1890). <Link to UVa e-Text Center><Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
12/30/2010
