Lyric Poem · Nature

One Sister have I in our house

by Emily Dickinson

One Sister have I in our house,

And one, a hedge away.

There's only one recorded,

But both belong to me.

One came the road that I came —

And wore my last year's gown —

The other, as a bird her nest,

Builded our hearts among.

She did not sing as we did —

It was a different tune —

Herself to her a music

As Bumble bee of June.

Today is far from Childhood —

But up and down the hills

I held her hand the tighter —

Which shortened all the miles —

And still her hum

The years among,

Deceives the Butterfly;

Still in her Eye

The Violets lie

Mouldered this many May.

I spilt the dew —

But took the morn —

I chose this single star

From out the wide night's numbers —

Sue - forevermore!

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

“One Sister have I in our house” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/one-sister-have-i-in-our-house

Quick facts

Poem: One Sister have I in our house
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 27 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Summer, Love

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: 27 lines · 6 stanzas of 4–6 lines
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.

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: PoetryDBOne Sister have I in our house 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 12931d80d960c11f…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

Jurisdiction-specific, never a worldwide claimRights policy Report a text or rights issue

Lyric Poem Nature Summer Love

Keep reading

Bright Star

John Keats · 1819

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—Not in lone splendour hung aloft the nightAnd watching, with eternal lids apart,

14 lines · sonnet

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

Christopher Marlowe · 1599

Come live with me and be my love,And we will all the pleasures prove,That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,

24 lines · lyric

The Old Pond (haiku)

Matsuo Bashō · 1686

an old pond, still —a frog leaps into water:the sound of the splash

3 lines · haiku

More nature poems →