Lyric Poem · Life

Could that sweet Darkness where they dwell

Be once disclosed to us

The clamor for their loveliness

Would burst the Loneliness —

Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.

“Could that sweet Darkness where they dwell” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/could-that-sweet-darkness-where-they-dwell

Quick facts

Poem: Could that sweet Darkness where they dwell
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 4 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Life, Short

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: 4 lines · one 4-line stanza
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.

Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake

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: PoetryDBCould that sweet Darkness where they dwell 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 0c4f63319f0a853b…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

Jurisdiction-specific, never a worldwide claimRights policy Report a text or rights issue

Lyric Poem Short Poems Life Short

Keep reading

When You Are Old

W. B. Yeats · 1893

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,And nodding by the fire, take down this book,And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

12 lines · lyric

So We'll Go No More a Roving

Lord Byron · 1817

So, we'll go no more a rovingSo late into the night,Though the heart be still as loving,

12 lines · lyric

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Robert Herrick · 1648

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,Old Time is still a-flying;And this same flower that smiles today

16 lines · lyric

More poems about life →