Lyric Poem · Kindness
If I can stop one Heart from breaking
by Emily Dickinson · 1890
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“If I can stop one Heart from breaking” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/if-i-can-stop-one-heart-from-breaking
Quick facts
- Poem
- If I can stop one Heart from breaking
- Poet
- Emily Dickinson
- Published
- 1890
- Length
- 7 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Short Poems
- Themes
- Kindness, Inspirational, 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
- 7 lines · one 7-line stanza
- Refrains
- “I shall not live in vain;”“I shall not live in vain.”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.
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 cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Emily Dickinson1830–1886
- Source record
- WikisourceIf I can stop one Heart from breaking by emily-dickinson, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1890
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 a9b3fea8efd6c89f…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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