Lyric Poem · Nature

Split the Lark—and you'll find the Music

by Emily Dickinson

Reading room

1Split the Lark — and you'll find the Music —

2Bulb after Bulb, in Silver rolled —

3Scantilly dealt to the Summer Morning

4Saved for your Ear when Lutes be old.

5Loose the Flood — you shall find it patent —

6Gush after Gush, reserved for you —

7Scarlet Experiment! Sceptic Thomas!

8Now, do you doubt that your Bird was true?

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“Split the Lark—and you'll find the Music” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/split-the-lark-and-youll-find-the-music

Quick facts

Poem: Split the Lark—and you'll find the Music
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 8 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Nature, Summer, 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 · 2 quatrains
End rhyme: ABCB in every stanza — ballad rhyme — only lines 2 and 4 chime.
Line length: Lines run 8-10 syllables (median 9). 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

A traceable edition

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Author record: Emily Dickinson1830–1886
Source record: PoetryDBSplit the Lark—and you'll find the Music 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 6183dd8933774289…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Short Poems Nature Summer Short

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