Lyric Poem · Hope

Somewhat, to hope for

by Emily Dickinson

Reading room

1Somewhat, to hope for,

2Be it ne'er so far

3Is Capital against Despair —

4Somewhat, to suffer,

5Be it ne'er so keen —

6If terminable, may be borne.

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“Somewhat, to hope for” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/somewhat-to-hope-for

Quick facts

Poem: Somewhat, to hope for
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 6 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Hope, 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: 6 lines · 2 tercets
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 5-8 syllables (median 6), consistent with trimeter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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Text, source & rights

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Author record: Emily Dickinson1830–1886
Source record: PoetryDBSomewhat, to hope for 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 19b5d671f6c37746…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Short Poems Hope Short

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