As imperceptibly as grief
by Emily Dickinson

As imperceptibly as grieft
The summer lapsed away,—t
Too imperceptible, at last,t
To seem like perfidy.t

A quietness distilled,t
As twilight long begun,t
Or Nature, spending with herselft
Sequestered afternoon.t

The dusk drew earlier in,t
The morning foreign shone,—t
A courteous, yet harrowing grace,t
As guest who would be gone.t

And thus, without a wing,t
Or service of a keel,t
Our summer made her light escapet
Into the beautiful.t