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Lyric Poem · Peace

I'm "wife"—I've finished that

by Emily Dickinson

1I'm "wife" — I've finished that —

2That other state —

3I'm Czar — I'm "Woman" now —

4It's safer so —

5How odd the Girl's life looks

6Behind this soft Eclipse —

7I think that Earth feels so

8To folks in Heaven — now —

9This being comfort — then

10That other kind — was pain —

11But why compare?

12I'm "Wife"! Stop there!

Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.

Quick facts

Poem
I'm "wife"—I've finished that
Poet
Emily Dickinson
Length
12 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
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
12 lines · 3 quatrains
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
Mostly 6-syllable lines (trimeter length).
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
PoetryDBI'm "wife"—I've finished that 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 c331cc05cf55f2aa
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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