Lyric Poem · Nature

There came a Day at Summer's full

by Emily Dickinson

Reading room

1There came a Day at Summer's full,

2Entirely for me —

3I thought that such were for the Saints,

4Where Resurrections — be —

5The Sun, as common, went abroad,

6The flowers, accustomed, blew,

7As if no soul the solstice passed

8That maketh all things new —

9The time was scarce profaned, by speech —

10The symbol of a word

11Was needless, as at Sacrament,

12The Wardrobe — of our Lord —

13Each was to each The Sealed Church,

14Permitted to commune this — time —

15Lest we too awkward show

16At Supper of the Lamb.

17The Hours slid fast — as Hours will,

18Clutched tight, by greedy hands —

19So faces on two Decks, look back,

20Bound to opposing lands —

21And so when all the time had leaked,

22Without external sound

23Each bound the Other's Crucifix —

24We gave no other Bond —

25Sufficient troth, that we shall rise —

26Deposed — at length, the Grave —

27To that new Marriage,

28Justified — through Calvaries of Love —

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“There came a Day at Summer's full” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/there-came-a-day-at-summers-full

Quick facts

Poem: There came a Day at Summer's full
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 28 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Summer, Love

Craft notes

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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: 28 lines · 7 quatrains
Line length: Lines run 6-8 syllables (median 7). 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: PoetryDBThere came a Day at Summer's full 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 ecf02a8788dee242…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Nature Summer Love

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