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Lyric Poem · Nature

Each Life Converges to some Centre

by Emily Dickinson

1Each Life Converges to some Centre —

2Expressed — or still —

3Exists in every Human Nature

4A Goal —

5Embodied scarcely to itself — it may be —

6Too fair

7For Credibility's presumption

8To mar —

9Adored with caution — as a Brittle Heaven —

10To reach

11Were hopeless, as the Rainbow's Raiment

12To touch —

13Yet persevered toward — sure — for the Distance —

14How high —

15Unto the Saint's slow diligence —

16The Sky —

17Ungained — it may be — by a Life's low Venture —

18But then —

19Eternity enable the endeavoring

20Again.

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Quick facts

Poem
Each Life Converges to some Centre
Poet
Emily Dickinson
Length
20 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Nature, 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
20 lines · 5 quatrains
The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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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
PoetryDBEach Life Converges to some Centre 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 eef0400427ad1ec0
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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