Lyric Poem · Childhood

It would have starved a Gnat

by Emily Dickinson

It would have starved a Gnat —

To live so small as I —

And yet I was a living Child —

With Food's necessity

Upon me — like a Claw —

I could no more remove

Than I could coax a Leech away —

Or make a Dragon — move —

Not like the Gnat — had I —

The privilege to fly

And seek a Dinner for myself —

How mightier He — than I —

Nor like Himself — the Art

Upon the Window Pane

To gad my little Being out —

And not begin — again —

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“It would have starved a Gnat” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/it-would-have-starved-a-gnat

Quick facts

Poem: It would have starved a Gnat
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 16 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Childhood

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: 16 lines · 4 quatrains
Line length: Mostly 6-syllable lines (trimeter length).

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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: PoetryDBIt would have starved a Gnat 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 244ebc03cb0ef0bc…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Childhood

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