Lyric Poem · Death & Loss

Dying! Dying in the night!

by Emily Dickinson

Won't somebody bring the light

So I can see which way to go

Into the everlasting snow?

And "Jesus"! Where is Jesus gone?

They said that Jesus — always came —

Perhaps he doesn't know the House —

This way, Jesus, Let him pass!

Somebody run to the great gate

And see if Dollie's coming! Wait!

I hear her feet upon the stair!

Death won't hurt — now Dollie's here!

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“Dying! Dying in the night!” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/dying-dying-in-the-night

Quick facts

Poem: Dying! Dying in the night!
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 12 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Death & Loss, Nature, Winter

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: Lines run 7-8 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. 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: PoetryDBDying! Dying in the night! 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 5fbb4193067e2bd0…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Death & Loss Nature Winter

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