Lyric Poem · Sad

Oh Future! thou secreted peace

by Emily Dickinson

Or subterranean woe —

Is there no wandering route of grace

That leads away from thee —

No circuit sage of all the course

Descried by cunning Men

To balk thee of thy sacred Prey —

Advancing to thy Den —

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“Oh Future! thou secreted peace” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/oh-future-thou-secreted-peace

Quick facts

Poem: Oh Future! thou secreted peace
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 8 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Sad, 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 · one 8-line stanza
Line length: Lines run 6-9 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: PoetryDBOh Future! thou secreted peace 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 267605e933641e26…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Short Poems Sad Short

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