Lyric Poem · Love

Tie the Strings to my Life, My Lord

by Emily Dickinson

Tie the Strings to my Life, My Lord,

Then, I am ready to go!

Just a look at the Horses —

Rapid! That will do!

Put me in on the firmest side —

So I shall never fall —

For we must ride to the Judgment —

And it's partly, down Hill —

But never I mind the steeper —

And never I mind the Sea —

Held fast in Everlasting Race —

By my own Choice, and Thee —

Goodbye to the Life I used to live —

And the World I used to know —

And kiss the Hills, for me, just once —

Then — I am ready to go!

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

“Tie the Strings to my Life, My Lord” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/tie-the-strings-to-my-life-my-lord

Quick facts

Poem: Tie the Strings to my Life, My Lord
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 16 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Love, 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 6-8 syllables (median 7). 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: PoetryDBTie the Strings to my Life, My Lord 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 d82fb70692982d67…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

Jurisdiction-specific, never a worldwide claimRights policy Report a text or rights issue

Lyric Poem Love Nature

Keep reading

Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

William Shakespeare · 1609

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate:Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

14 lines · sonnet

Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds

William Shakespeare · 1609

Let me not to the marriage of true mindsAdmit impediments. Love is not loveWhich alters when it alteration finds,

14 lines · sonnet

Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun

William Shakespeare · 1609

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;Coral is far more red than her lips' red;If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

14 lines · sonnet

More love poems →