Lyric Poem · Nature

If I should cease to bring a Rose

by Emily Dickinson

Upon a festal day,

'Twill be because beyond the Rose

I have been called away —

If I should cease to take the names

My buds commemorate —

'Twill be because Death's finger

Claps my murmuring lip!

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“If I should cease to bring a Rose” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/if-i-should-cease-to-bring-a-rose

Quick facts

Poem: If I should cease to bring a Rose
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 8 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Nature, Death & Loss, 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: 8 lines · 2 quatrains
Line length: Lines run 6-8 syllables (median 7). 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 should cease to bring 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 22ff643b112f156d…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Short Poems Nature Death & Loss Short

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