Lyric Poem · Love
Love—is that later Thing than Death
Love — is that later Thing than Death —
More previous — than Life —
Confirms it at its entrance — And
Usurps it — of itself —
Tastes Death — the first — to hand the sting
The Second — to its friend —
Disarms the little interval —
Deposits Him with God —
Then hovers — an inferior Guard —
Lest this Beloved Charge
Need — once in an Eternity —
A smaller than the Large —
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Love—is that later Thing than Death” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/love-is-that-later-thing-than-death
Quick facts
- Poem
- Love—is that later Thing than Death
- Poet
- Emily Dickinson
- Length
- 12 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Love, Death & Loss, Friendship
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
- Lines run 6-8 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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 committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Emily Dickinson1830–1886
- Source record
- PoetryDBLove—is that later Thing than Death 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 222575608b2b86f0…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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