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Lyric Poem · Nature

So gay a Flower

by Emily Dickinson

So gay a Flower

Bereaves the Mind

As if it were a Woe —

Is Beauty an Affliction — then?

Tradition ought to know —

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

Quick facts

Poem
So gay a Flower
Poet
Emily Dickinson
Length
5 lines
Form
Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes
Nature, Sad, Short

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
PoetryDBSo gay a Flower 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 d856f27c8e354191
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
Jurisdiction-specific, never a worldwide claimRights policyReport a text or rights issue

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