Lyric Poem · Love

You see I cannot see—your lifetime

by Emily Dickinson

You see I cannot see — your lifetime —

I must guess —

How many times it ache for me — today — Confess —

How many times for my far sake

The brave eyes film —

But I guess guessing hurts —

Mine — got so dim!

Too vague — the face —

My own — so patient — covers —

Too far — the strength —

My timidness enfolds —

Haunting the Heart —

Like her translated faces —

Teasing the want —

It — only — can suffice!

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“You see I cannot see—your lifetime” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/you-see-i-cannot-see-your-lifetime

Quick facts

Poem: You see I cannot see—your lifetime
Poet: Emily Dickinson
Length: 15 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Love

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: 15 lines · 2 stanzas of 7–8 lines
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.

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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: PoetryDBYou see I cannot see—your lifetime 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 0d75deae2ddd27b5…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Love

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