Lyric Poem · Death & Loss

Death is a Dialogue between

by Emily Dickinson

The Spirit and the Dust.

"Dissolve" says Death — The Spirit "Sir

I have another Trust" —

Death doubts it — Argues from the Ground —

The Spirit turns away

Just laying off for evidence

An Overcoat of Clay.

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“Death is a Dialogue between” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/death-is-a-dialogue-between

Quick facts

Poem: Death is a Dialogue between
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 8 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Death & Loss, 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: 8 lines · 2 quatrains
End rhyme: ABCB in every stanza — ballad rhyme — only lines 2 and 4 chime.
Line length: 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: PoetryDBDeath is a Dialogue between 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 17a9d4c9a2874e2d…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Short Poems Death & Loss Short

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