MANUSCRIPTS: The copy reproduced above is in packet 14 (H 73c), written during 1862. The copy below (H Higg 4) was one of two poems enclosed in a letter (BPL Higg 55) written to T. W. Higginson in August 1862. One word is variant:

11. for] to

I cannot dance upon my Toes-
No Man instructed me-
But oftentimes, among my mind
A Glee possesseth me
That had I Ballet - Knowledge -
Would put itself abroad
In Pirouette to blanch a Troupe-
Or lay a Prima - mad -

And though I had no Gown of Gauze-
No Ringlet, to my Hair-
Nor hopped to Audiences-like Birds-
One Claw upon the Air-
Nor tossed my shape in Eider Balls-
Nor rolled on Wheels of Snow
Till I was out of sight in sound-
The House encore me so-

Nor any know I know the Art
I mention easy - Here -
Nor any Placard boast me
It's full as Opera-

17. know I know] knew I know