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Lyric Poem · Life

Teach Him—When He makes the names

by Emily Dickinson

Teach Him — When He makes the names —

Such an one — to say —

On his babbling — Berry — lips —

As should sound — to me —

Were my Ear — as near his nest —

As my thought — today —

As should sound —

"Forbid us not" —

Some like "Emily."

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

Quick facts

Poem
Teach Him—When He makes the names
Poet
Emily Dickinson
Length
9 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Life, 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
PoetryDBTeach Him—When He makes the names 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 0ae53dd47aed8dbc
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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