I died for beauty, but was scarce
Emily Dickinson · 1890
Public domain
From Poems by Emily Dickinson, published in 1890. The text is free of copyright in the United States. This copy is the poem, without the Project Gutenberg header.
I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.
He questioned softly why I failed?
"For beauty," I replied.
"And I for truth, -- the two are one;
We brethren are," he said.
And so, as kinsmen met a night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.