It was not Death, for I stood up, (355)

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It was not death, for I stood up,
And all the Dead, lie down -
It was not night, for all the Bells
Put out their TonguesTongues The clappers inside of the bells, for Noon.

It was not Frost, for on my Flesh
I felt SiroccosSiroccos Hot winds. The Emily Dickinson Lexicon includes definitions from the American Dictionary of the english Language (1844): “A pernicious wind that blows from the south-east in Italy, called the Syrian wind. It is said to resemble the steam from the mouth of an oven.” - crawl -
Nor fire - for just my marble feet
Could keep a Chancel,Chancel The section near the altar of a church cool -

And yet, it tasted, like them all,
The Figures I have seen
Set orderly, for Burial
Reminded me, of mine -

As if my life were shaven,
And fitted to a frame,
And could not breathe without a key,
And ’twas like Midnight, some -

When everything that ticked - has stopped -
And space stares - all around -
Or Grisly frosts - first Autumn morns,
Repeal the Beating Ground -

But most, like Chaos - Stopless - cool -
Without a Chance, or sparspar The top mast of a ship -
Or even a Report of Land -
To justify - despair.
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