Lyric Poem · Childhood

'Tis One by One—the Father counts

by Emily Dickinson

'Tis One by One — the Father counts —

And then a Tract between

Set Cypherless — to teach the Eye

The Value of its Ten —

Until the peevish Student

Acquire the Quick of Skill —

Then Numerals are dowered back —

Adorning all the Rule —

'Tis mostly Slate and Pencil —

And Darkness on the School

Distracts the Children's fingers —

Still the Eternal Rule

Regards least Cypherer alike

With Leader of the Band —

And every separate Urchin's Sum —

Is fashioned for his hand —

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“'Tis One by One—the Father counts” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/tis-one-by-one-the-father-counts

Quick facts

Poem: 'Tis One by One—the Father counts
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 16 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: 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.

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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: PoetryDB'Tis One by One—the Father counts 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 44743e46a9ff2af1…
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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