Emily Dickinson Lexicon

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Precipitation; shower; downpour; drops of water falling from the sky. 1235/1245 A coming as of Hosts was heard / That was indeed the Rain … Then like Elijah rode away / Opon a Wheel of Cloud

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Arc of colored light in the sky after rain; beautiful natural phenomenon caused by the reflection and refraction of light by drops of water in the air. 97/76 The rainbow never tells me / That gust and storm are by – / Yet is she more convincing / Than Philosophy.

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Lift; elevate; turn or move upward. 201/227 When One turned, smiling, to the land … stray ships – passing, spied a face … With eyes, in death, still begging – raised

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Recover; recuperate; revive; overcome difficulty; regain strength; be restored to a former condition. 501/373 This World is not conclusion … Men have borne / Contempt of Generations … Faith slips – and laughs, and rallies

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Wander; rove; stroll; meander; walk aimlessly, enjoying the view. 50/40 The hillsides must no know it – / Where I have rambled so … that within the Riddle / One will walk today

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Arrange; organize; return to proper position. 1134/1152 The Wind … The Four Divisions of the Earth / Did make as to devour … nature ventured out … Her systems ranged about

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Row; orderly assemblage of troops; line of soldiers standing side by side. 126/138 the Angels go – / Rank after Rank, with even feet

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Intent; spellbound; fascinated; transfixed; absorbed; entranced; engrossed; entirely engaged; completely focused; wholly interested. 7/16 Night is the morning's canvas … Death – but our rapt attention / To immortality.

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Ecstasy; bliss; elation; extreme thrill; utter joy; pure satisfaction; overpowering happiness; overwhelming pleasure. 1679/1718 Rather arid delight … an abstemious ecstasy / Not so good as joy – // But Rapture's Expense / Must not be incurred

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Uncommon; unusual; exceptional; extraordinary; special; singular; unique; out of the ordinary; seldom encountered; not frequently found or experienced. 100/147 some rare tenant of the mold … perished in the stone – // So … This meekest flower … Stands representative in gold

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Preferably; sooner; more readily; more willingly. 1719/1752 God is indeed a jealous God – / He cannot bear to see / That we had rather not with Him / But with each other play.

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Confirm; settle; validate; legitimize; contract; seal; bond; agree upon; make legal; make permanent. 580/426 The solemn contract of a Life / Was ratified … Myself a poorer prove / Than this great Purchaser suspect, / The Daily Own – of Love // Depreciate

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Proportion; comparative relation; appropriate relative quantity or magnitude. 125/109 We must an anguish pay / In keen and quivering ration … For each beloved hour

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Shake; clatter; produce noise; make a clicking sound by striking repeatedly against another object; [fig.] spill; pour out; fall to the ground with a clattering sound. 570/537 Coals – from a Rolling Load – rattle – how – near

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Assail; attack; seize; carry away; take by force; abduct. 1594/1628 Let every Bondage be … Like that which ravished thee!

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Afflicted by sublimity; devastated by beauty; distressed by an excess of joy; [fig.] grieving; sorrowing. 1420/1450 Birds, a Summer morning … stab my ravished spirit.

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Uncooked; unprepared; fresh; in a natural state. 328/359 He bit an angleworm … And ate the fellow raw … He glanced with rapid eyes … like frightened beads … He stirred his velvet head

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Approach; come near (to); arrive (at); come (to); make it as far as. 566/529 I caught the Dripping of a Rock / And bore it in my Hand … 'Twas not his blame – who died / While I was reaching him

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Study; examine; peruse; pore over; silently decode the features of a written text; [fig.] consider; ponder; think about. 1089/1049 Myself can read the Telegrams / A Letter chief to me / The Stock's advance and retrogade / And what the Markets say

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Actual; tangible; truly existing; actually occurring; not imagined; proven to exist through physical perception. 646/757 The Vision – pondered long – / So plausible becomes / That I esteem the fiction – real

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Fact; truth; knowledge of the true nature of things; [fig.] realization; attainment; fulfillment of desires; actual possession. 1430/1447 Within it's reach, though yet ungrasped … No nearer – lest [Reality] – / Should disenthrall thy soul

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Kingdom; empire; domain; dominion; province; ruled territory; land conquered, controlled, and possessed. 1334/1352 No Despot but the King of Down / Invented this repose // Of Fate if this is all / Has he no added Realm

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Raise; lift; elevate; fly high; bring to view. 122/104 Still rears the East her amber Flag – / Guides still the sun along the Crag

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Logic; rational thinking; mental construct. 280/340 Sense was breaking through … I thought / My mind was going numb … I heard them … creak across my Soul … And then a Plank in Reason, broke, / And I … hit a World, at every plunge, / And Finished knowing

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Think; ponder; muse; consider; contemplate; philosophize; pose a question; present an issue to be discussed logically. 301/403 I reason – / We should die – / The best – Vitality / Could not excel Decay