Emily Dickinson Lexicon

be (-en, -ing), v. [OE bé-on, become, come to be; see also are, is, was, were, and related forms.] (webplay: abide, abideth, affair, Christ, circumstances, closeness, condition, duty, endowed, existence, existing, expresses, flesh, future, give, God, happening, honor, house, human, immaterial, Jesus, law, leave, live, made, man, manner, mortal, motion, nearness, omit, pay, place, present, purpose, race, remain, sensation, spirit, state, shorter, string, superior, time, untouched, verb).

1. [Used to form an imperative sentence] stay; remain; keep yourself.
2. [Subjunctive main verb] is; become; progress until.
3. [Imperative] live; endure; exist.
4. [Used with a present participle to form the future or conditional tense.]
5. [Used with the past participle to form the passive voice.]
6. [Passive] continue; persevere; persist.
7. [Imperative] sojourn; tarry; visit; occupy a place.
8. [Subjunctive; used to link a subject to a predicate adjective so that the predicate describes the subject.]
9. [Modal + “be” infinitive] occur; happen; arise; take place; come to pass.
10. [Used to express the subjunctive; used to form literary or archaic expressions.]
11. [Used with a present participle to form the progressive tense.]