Lyric Poem · Nature

As Summer into Autumn slips

by Emily Dickinson

And yet we sooner say

"The Summer" than "the Autumn," lest

We turn the sun away,

And almost count it an Affront

The presence to concede

Of one however lovely, not

The one that we have loved —

So we evade the charge of Years

On one attempting shy

The Circumvention of the Shaft

Of Life's Declivity.

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“As Summer into Autumn slips” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/as-summer-into-autumn-slips

Quick facts

Poem: As Summer into Autumn slips
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 12 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Autumn, Summer

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: 12 lines · 3 quatrains
Line length: Consistent with common metre. Alternating eight- and six-syllable lines — the hymn stanza (8.6.8.6), the most-used quatrain in English verse.

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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: PoetryDBAs Summer into Autumn slips 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 46596e3e12720903…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Nature Autumn Summer

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