BY THE SEA

I started early, took my dog,
And visited the sea;
The mermaids in the basement
Came out to look at me,

And frigates in the upper floor
Extended hempen hands,
Presuming me to be a mouse
Aground, upon the sands.

But no man moved me till the tide
Went past my simple shoe,
And past my apron and my belt,
And past my bodice too,

And made as he would eat me up
As wholly as a dew
Upon a dandelion's sleeve ~
And then I started too.

And he ~ he followed close behind ;

I felt his silver heel

Upon my ankle, ~ then my shoes

Would overflow with pearl.

Until we met the solid town,

No man he seemed to know ;

And bowing with a might look

At me, the sea withdrew.

~ Emily Dickinson  Collected Poems of.  Chatham River Press, 1983.