Lyric Poem · Childhood

The Child's faith is new

by Emily Dickinson

Reading room

1The Child's faith is new —

2Whole — like His Principle —

3Wide — like the Sunrise

4On fresh Eyes —

5Never had a Doubt —

6Laughs — at a Scruple —

7Believes all sham

8But Paradise —

9Credits the World —

10Deems His Dominion

11Broadest of Sovereignties —

12And Caesar — mean —

13In the Comparison —

14Baseless Emperor —

15Ruler of Nought —

16Yet swaying all —

17Grown bye and bye

18To hold mistaken

19His pretty estimates

20Of Prickly Things

21He gains the skill

22Sorrowful — as certain —

23Men — to anticipate

24Instead of Kings —

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“The Child's faith is new” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/the-childs-faith-is-new

Quick facts

Poem: The Child's faith is new
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 24 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Childhood

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: 24 lines · 3 octaves
Line length: Lines run 4-6 syllables (median 5). 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: PoetryDBThe Child's faith is new 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 83317d28307e43fc…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Childhood

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