“No rack can torture me,
My soul 's at liberty.
Behind this mortal bone
There knits a bolder one

You cannot prick with saw,
Nor rend with scymitar.
Two bodies therefore be;
Bind one, and one will flee.

The eagle of his nest
No easier divest
And gain the sky,
Than mayest thou,

Except thyself may be
Thine enemy;
Captivity is consciousness,
So's liberty.”

—  Emily Dickinson

Source: Collected Poems (1993), Time and Eternity, p. 198

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Nov. 10, 2022. History

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Emily Dickinson photo
Emily Dickinson 187
American poet 1830–1886

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