Emily Dickinson

A little East of Jordan

A little East of Jordan, Evangelists record, A Gymnast and an Angel Did wrestle long and hard – Till morning touching mountain – And Jacob, waxing strong, The Angel begged permission To Breakfast – to return! Not so, said cunning Jacob! "I will not let thee go Except thou bless me" – Stranger! The which acceded to – Light swung the silver fleeces "Peniel" Hills beyond, And the bewildered Gymnast Found he had worsted God! Source : The Poems of Emily Dickinson, ed. R. W. Franklin (Harvard University Press, 1999)