Lyric Poem · Hope
This is the place they hoped before
This is the place they hoped before,
Where I am hoping now.
The seed of disappointment grew
Within a capsule gay,
Too distant to arrest the feet
That walk this plank of balm —
Before them lies escapeless sea —
The way is closed they came.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“This is the place they hoped before” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/this-is-the-place-they-hoped-before
Quick facts
- Poem
- This is the place they hoped before
- Poet
- Emily Dickinson
- Length
- 8 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Short Poems
- Themes
- Hope, Nature, 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 · one 8-line stanza
- End rhyme
- No regular perfect end rhyme. The poem may still be using slant rhyme, assonance, or internal echo, which this check does not score.
- Line length
- Lines run 6-9 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
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
- PoetryDBThis is the place they hoped before 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 fb573c70d219d36d…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
Keep reading
The Zero on the Cake
The QuillOak Editors
8 lines · lyric
A Birthday Blessing
The QuillOak Editors
4 lines · quatrain
A Wish with a Face
The QuillOak Editors
6 lines · free verse