Lyric Poem · Winter
There's a certain Slant of light
by Emily Dickinson · 1890
There's a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons,
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.
Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings are.
None may teach it anything,
'T is the seal, despair,—
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.
When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath;
When it goes, 't is like the distance
On the look of death.
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“There's a certain Slant of light” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/theres-a-certain-slant-of-light
Quick facts
- Poem
- There's a certain Slant of light
- Poet
- Emily Dickinson
- Published
- 1890
- Length
- 16 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Winter, Sad, Nature
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
- 16 lines · 4 quatrains
- 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.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Emily Dickinson1830–1886
- Source record
- WikisourceThere's a certain Slant of light by emily-dickinson, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1890
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 cce38651f09a49ee…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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