Emily Dickinson Lexicon

marble, adj. [OFr < Lat. < Gk 'shining stone'.] (webplay: little, stone, used, veins).

1. Stony; hard; solid; dense; shiny; polished; smooth like granite; [fig.] deadly, fatal; tomb-like.
2. Cold; chilled; insensate; numb; paralyzed; seemingly lifeless.
3. Etched; incised; engraved on stone; carved on a tomb.
4. Phrase: “marble tea”: dishes; china; table setting; [fig.] floral arrangement; memorial flowers; tomb decorations.