Page:The Life and Letters of Emily Dickinson (1924).pdf/124

92 Satan—the Brigadier, Judas—the great Defaulter, David—the Troubadour. Sin—a distinguished Precipice Others must resist, Boys that "believe" Are very lonesome— Other boys are "lost." Had but the tale a warbling Teller All the boys would come— Orpheus' sermon captivated, It did not condemn.

The Devil, had he fidelity, Would be the finest friend— Because he has ability, But Devils cannot mend. Perfidy is the virtue That would he but resign,— The Devil, so amended, Were durably divine.

Often and often her best quips and most startling suggestions come in her allusions to the Bible, which she uses with a familiarity unknown to her time, and with a spirit of equality almost jocular; using words—to others of her same conventional training—unbelievably yoked. "As the Bible boyishly says—new every morning and fresh every evening"—is one of her adverbs forever fresh in the family quotation.