Lyric Poem · Nature
If I could bribe them by a Rose
If I could bribe them by a Rose
I'd bring them every flower that grows
From Amherst to Cashmere!
I would not stop for night, or storm —
Or frost, or death, or anyone —
My business were so dear!
If they would linger for a Bird
My Tambourin were soonest heard
Among the April Woods!
Unwearied, all the summer long,
Only to break in wilder song
When Winter shook the boughs!
What if they hear me!
Who shall say
That such an importunity
May not at last avail?
That, weary of this Beggar's face —
They may not finally say, Yes —
To drive her from the Hall?
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“If I could bribe them by a Rose” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/if-i-could-bribe-them-by-a-rose
Quick facts
- Poem
- If I could bribe them by a Rose
- Poet
- Emily Dickinson
- Length
- 19 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Winter, Spring
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
- 19 lines · 4 stanzas of 3–6 lines
- Line length
- Lines run 5-8 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
- PoetryDBIf I could bribe them by a Rose 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 1a784e602d14a4f6…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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