Safe in their Alabaster Chambers—
Untouched by Morning
And untouched by Noon—
Sleep the meek members of the Resurrection—
Rafter of satin
And Roof of stone
Light laughs the breeze
In her Castle above them—
Babbles the Bee in a stolid Ear
Pipe the Sweet Birds in gorant cadence—
Ah, what sagacity perished here!
Version of 1862
*****
Safe in their Alabaster Chambers—
Untouched by Morning
This poem first appeared in 1862 in the Springfield  Daily Republican  and was originally titled “The Sleeping.” Susan Gilbert, Dickinson’s sister-in-law, with whom she often exchanged letters and whose opinion she valued, offered a critique of “The Sleeping,” and although this particular letter has never been found, Dickinson clearly took it seriously enough to change the entire second stanza of the poem, leaving us with the version of the poem that is best known today.
Safe in their Alabaster Chambers 216