In a Queen's Domain
Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt (1836-1919)

Ah! my subject, the rose, I know,
        Will give me her breath and her blush;
And my subject, the lily, spreads snow,
        If I pass, for my foot to crush.

My subjects, the lamb and the fawn,
        They hide their heads in my breast;
And my subject, the dove, coos on,
        Though my hand creep close to her nest.

But my subject, the bee, will sting;
        And my subject, the thorn, will tear;
And my subject, the tiger, will spring
        At me, with a cry and a glare.

And my subject, the lion, will shake
        With his anger my loneliest lands;
And my subject, the snake (ah! the snake!)Why might Piatt have repeated the image of the snake?
        Will strike me dead in the sands.


a tiger fighting a snake Tiger and Snake, by Eugčne Delacroix

And my subject, the tiger, will spring
At me, with a cry and a glare.



Dying
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air—
Between the Heaves of Storm—

The Eyes around—had wrung them dry—
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset—when the KingWho, or what, is the king?
Be witnessed—in the Room—

I willed my Keepsakes—Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable—and then it was
There interposedto come between things a Fly,

With Blue—uncertain stumbling Buzz—
Between the light—and me—
And then the Windows failed—and then
I could not see to see—


a man standing by an empty bed in a darkened room

The Eyes beside had wrung them dry
And breaths were gathering sure