Lyric Poem · Death & Loss
'Twas just this time, last year, I died
1'Twas just this time, last year, I died.
2I know I heard the Corn,
3When I was carried by the Farms —
4It had the Tassels on —
5I thought how yellow it would look —
6When Richard went to mill —
7And then, I wanted to get out,
8But something held my will.
9I thought just how Red — Apples wedged
10The Stubble's joints between —
11And the Carts stooping round the fields
12To take the Pumpkins in —
13I wondered which would miss me, least,
14And when Thanksgiving, came,
15If Father'd multiply the plates —
16To make an even Sum —
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“'Twas just this time, last year, I died” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/twas-just-this-time-last-year-i-died
Quick facts
- Poem
- 'Twas just this time, last year, I died
- Poet
- Emily Dickinson
- Length
- 24 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Death & Loss
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
- 24 lines · 6 quatrains
- 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 6-8 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
- PoetryDB'Twas just this time, last year, I died 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 48f33c092ac156fa…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.