Lyric Poem · Nature

Ourselves were wed one summer—dear

by Emily Dickinson

Reading room

1Ourselves were wed one summer — dear —

2Your Vision — was in June —

3And when Your little Lifetime failed,

4I wearied — too — of mine —

5And overtaken in the Dark —

6Where You had put me down —

7By Some one carrying a Light —

8I — too — received the Sign.

9'Tis true — Our Futures different lay —

10Your Cottage — faced the sun —

11While Oceans — and the North must be —

12On every side of mine

13'Tis true, Your Garden led the Bloom,

14For mine — in Frosts — was sown —

15And yet, one Summer, we were Queens —

16But You — were crowned in June —

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“Ourselves were wed one summer—dear” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/ourselves-were-wed-one-summer-dear

Quick facts

Poem: Ourselves were wed one summer—dear
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 16 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Summer

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
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 6-9 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

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Author record: Emily Dickinson1830–1886
Source record: PoetryDBOurselves were wed one summer—dear 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 d830c52f0e0ad391…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Nature Summer

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