Lyric Poem · Nature

To tell the Beauty would decrease

by Emily Dickinson

To state the Spell demean —

There is a syllable-less Sea

Of which it is the sign —

My will endeavors for its word

And fails, but entertains

A Rapture as of Legacies —

Of introspective Mines —

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“To tell the Beauty would decrease” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/to-tell-the-beauty-would-decrease

Quick facts

Poem: To tell the Beauty would decrease
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 8 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: 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
Line length: Lines run 6-8 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. 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: PoetryDBTo tell the Beauty would decrease 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 ebb9454ea2eb603a…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Short Poems Nature Short

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