Lyric Poem · Nature
"Arcturus" is his other name
1"Arcturus" is his other name —
2I'd rather call him "Star."
3It's very mean of Science
4To go and interfere!
5I slew a worm the other day —
6A "Savant" passing by
7Murmured "Resurgam" — "Centipede"!
8"Oh Lord — how frail are we"!
9I pull a flower from the woods —
10A monster with a glass
11Computes the stamens in a breath —
12And has her in a "class"!
13Whereas I took the Butterfly
14Aforetime in my hat —
15He sits erect in "Cabinets" —
16The Clover bells forgot.
17What once was "Heaven"
18Is "Zenith" now —
19Where I proposed to go
20When Time's brief masquerade was done
21Is mapped and charted too.
22What if the poles should frisk about
23And stand upon their heads!
24I hope I'm ready for "the worst" —
25Whatever prank betides!
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“"Arcturus" is his other name” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/arcturus-is-his-other-name
Quick facts
- Poem
- "Arcturus" is his other name
- Poet
- Emily Dickinson
- Length
- 32 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Hope, 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
- 32 lines · 8 stanzas of 3–5 lines
- End rhyme
- No regular perfect end rhyme. The poem may still be using slant rhyme, assonance, or internal echo, which this check does not score.
- Line length
- Lines run 6-8 syllables (median 7). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Emily Dickinson1830–1886
- Source record
- PoetryDB"Arcturus" is his other name 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 2737b4d779c3c249…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.