Lyric Poem · Nature

Where Roses would not dare to go

by Emily Dickinson

Where Roses would not dare to go,

What Heart would risk the way —

And so I send my Crimson Scouts

To sound the Enemy —

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

“Where Roses would not dare to go” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/where-roses-would-not-dare-to-go

Quick facts

Poem: Where Roses would not dare to go
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 4 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Nature, Love, 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: 4 lines · one 4-line stanza
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: Common metre. Alternating eight- and six-syllable lines — the hymn stanza (8.6.8.6), the most-used quatrain in English verse.

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: PoetryDBWhere Roses would not dare to go 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 0f6d33be763b25d9…
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 Short Poems Nature Love Short

Keep reading

Bright Star

John Keats · 1819

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—Not in lone splendour hung aloft the nightAnd watching, with eternal lids apart,

14 lines · sonnet

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

Christopher Marlowe · 1599

Come live with me and be my love,And we will all the pleasures prove,That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,

24 lines · lyric

The Old Pond (haiku)

Matsuo Bashō · 1686

an old pond, still —a frog leaps into water:the sound of the splash

3 lines · haiku

More nature poems →