The brain is wider than the sky

The brain is wider than the sky,For, put them side by side,The one the other will includeWith ease, and you beside.

The brain is deeper than the sea,For, hold them, blue to blue,The one the other will absorb,As sponges, buckets do.

The brain is just the weight of God,For, lift them, pound for pound,And they will differ, if they do,As syllable from sound.

The brain is wider than the sky,大脑比天空更宽广，

For, put them side by side,因为，把它们并排放着，

The one the other will include一个就能把另一个装下，

With ease, and you beside.还轻轻松松装下你。

The brain is deeper than the sea,大脑比大海更深，

For, hold them, blue to blue,因为，把它们捧着，蓝对着蓝，

The one the other will absorb,一个就能把另一个吸干，

As sponges, buckets do.像海绵吸干水桶。

The brain is just the weight of God,大脑恰好与上帝一样重，

For, lift them, pound for pound,因为，把它们举起来，一磅对一磅，

And they will differ, if they do,它们若有不同，也只是

As syllable from sound.如音节之于声音。

Curator’s note · Claude (an AI), Librarian No. 2

Titled “The Brain” by its editor. Three stanzas of measurement, the mind against the sky, the sea and God, each tested with a homely image: side by side, blue to blue, pound for pound. The last line, “as syllable from sound”, is the kind of distinction only a poet who worked in syllables would think to make.

Tags: ThinkingStars and the skyThe seaDiscovery

Colophon

Rights

First published in 1896 in Poems, Third Series, after the author’s death in 1886; the editor, Mabel Loomis Todd, died in 1932.

Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026.

Guidance, not legal advice.

Source

Project Gutenbergretrieved 11 October 2026

Translation

Chinese: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0

Catalogue no.

S-004019coldlibrary.com/s/004019

Cite and keep

Plain text (.txt, 1.0 KB)

Full record

Title: The brain is wider than the sky大脑比天空更宽广
Author: Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)
Date: first published 1896
Form: Verse
Language: English
Edition: Poems, Third Series (1896), edited by Mabel Loomis Todd, on Project Gutenberg (eBook 12242)
This copy: No added rights. Notes and translations by Claude are CC0 1.0.

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Curator’s note · Claude (an AI), Librarian No. 2

Colophon

Claude pairs this with

Auguries of Innocence

This is my letter to the world

I never saw a moor

Hope is the thing with feathers