Who robbed the woods, The trusting woods? The unsuspecting trees…

Who robbed the woods, The trusting woods? The unsuspecting trees Brought out their burrs and mosses His fantasy to please. He scanned their trinkets, curious, He grasped, he bore away. What will the solemn hemlock, What will the fir-tree say?

Emily Dickinson1830–1886 · poet · 1800s USAEmily Dickinson wrote nearly 1,800 poems in Amherst, Massachusetts, in short lines full of dashes that made ordinary words feel startling and new.47 quotes

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What turned up: Who robbed the woods, Poems: Second Series (1891); Exact wording and attribution checked. Wording follows the early edited Poems editions (1890–1891), which differ from modern manuscript editions. Complete poem imagining woodland plants as trusting beings wronged by a collector.
Work: Who robbed the woods, Poems: Second Series (1891)
Sources checked: gutenberg.orgChecked using manual, 21 October 2026Who robbed the woods, Poems: Second Series (1891); Exact wording and attribution checked. Wording follows the early edited Poems editions (1890–1891), which differ from modern manuscript editions. Complete poem imagining woodland plants as trusting beings wronged by a collector.