A Service of Song

Some keep the Sabbath going to church;

I keep it staying at home,

With a bobolink for a chorister,

And an orchard for a dome.

Some keep the Sabbath in surplice;

I just wear my wings,

And instead of tolling the bell for church,

Our little sexton sings.

God preaches, — a noted clergyman, —

And the sermon is never long;

So instead of getting to heaven at last,

I’m going all along!

 

Emily Dickinson

 

From: Poems by Emily Dickinson Series One

Edited by two of her friends Mabel Loomis Todd and T.W. Higginson