Lyric Poem · Childhood

A loss of something ever felt I

by Emily Dickinson

A loss of something ever felt I —

The first that I could recollect

Bereft I was — of what I knew not

Too young that any should suspect

A Mourner walked among the children

I notwithstanding went about

As one bemoaning a Dominion

Itself the only Prince cast out —

Elder, Today, a session wiser

And fainter, too, as Wiseness is —

I find myself still softly searching

For my Delinguent Palaces —

And a Suspicion, like a Finger

Touches my Forehead now and then

That I am looking oppositely

For the site of the Kingdom of Heaven —

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“A loss of something ever felt I” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/a-loss-of-something-ever-felt-i

Quick facts

Poem: A loss of something ever felt I
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 16 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Childhood, Peace

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 16 lines · 4 quatrains
Line length: Lines run 8-10 syllables (median 9). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

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Text, source & rights

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Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record: Emily Dickinson1830–1886
Source record: PoetryDBA loss of something ever felt I by emily-dickinson, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 08414510216dc441…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Childhood Peace

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