Lyric Poem · Life
Yesterday is History
Yesterday is History,
'Tis so far away —
Yesterday is Poetry —
'Tis Philosophy —
Yesterday is mystery —
Where it is Today
While we shrewdly speculate
Flutter both away
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Yesterday is History” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/yesterday-is-history
Quick facts
- Poem
- Yesterday is History
- Poet
- Emily Dickinson
- Length
- 8 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Short Poems
- Themes
- Life, 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 · 2 quatrains
- Line length
- Lines run 5-7 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
- PoetryDBYesterday is History 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 a11c7f8137d7a905…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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