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Lyric Poem · Peace

We talked as Girls do

by Emily Dickinson

1We talked as Girls do —

2Fond, and late —

3We speculated fair, on every subject, but the Grave —

4Of ours, none affair —

5We handled Destinies, as cool —

6As we — Disposers — be —

7And God, a Quiet Party

8To our Authority —

9But fondest, dwelt upon Ourself

10As we eventual — be —

11When Girls to Women, softly raised

12We — occupy — Degree —

13We parted with a contract

14To cherish, and to write

15But Heaven made both, impossible

16Before another night.

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Quick facts

Poem
We talked as Girls do
Poet
Emily Dickinson
Length
16 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Peace, 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
16 lines · 4 quatrains
The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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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
PoetryDBWe talked as Girls do 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 0c62f85520a3b9de
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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