Lyric Poem · Nature

From Cocoon forth a Butterfly

by Emily Dickinson

As Lady from her Door

Emerged — a Summer Afternoon —

Repairing Everywhere —

Without Design — that I could trace

Except to stray abroad

On Miscellaneous Enterprise

The Clovers — understood —

Her pretty Parasol be seen

Contracting in a Field

Where Men made Hay —

Then struggling hard

With an opposing Cloud —

Where Parties — Phantom as Herself —

To Nowhere — seemed to go

In purposeless Circumference —

As 'twere a Tropic Show —

And notwithstanding Bee — that worked —

And Flower — that zealous blew —

This Audience of Idleness

Disdained them, from the Sky —

Till Sundown crept — a steady Tide —

And Men that made the Hay —

And Afternoon — and Butterfly —

Extinguished — in the Sea —

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“From Cocoon forth a Butterfly” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/from-cocoon-forth-a-butterfly

Quick facts

Poem: From Cocoon forth a Butterfly
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 25 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, 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: 25 lines · 6 stanzas of 4–5 lines
End rhyme: No regular perfect end rhyme. The poem may still be using slant rhyme, assonance, or internal echo, which this check does not score.
Line length: Lines run 6-8 syllables (median 6), consistent with trimeter. 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: PoetryDBFrom Cocoon forth a Butterfly 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 09c28b503ed25b54…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Nature Summer

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