Thirst and Immortality

Listen to:

Thirst and Immortality (:42)

by Emily Dickinson

performed by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

THIRST

We thirst at first, -- 't is Nature's act;

  And later, when we die,

A little water supplicate

  Of fingers going by.

It intimates the finer want,

  Whose adequate supply

Is that great water in the west

  Termed immortality.

IMMORTALITY

It is an honorable thought,

  And makes one lift one's hat,

As one encountered gentlefolk

  Upon a daily street,

That we've immortal place,

  Though pyramids decay,

And kingdoms, like the orchard,

  Flit russetly away.