quote · Source-linked selection
If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain. If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.
If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain. If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.
Approximate author period: c. 1858 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Emily Dickinson
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1858 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1830–1886)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Thoughts: Selected from the writings of favorite authors (1901) (1901 AD)
Complete signed selection 385; printed byline: Emily Dickinson; New York: Dodge Publishing Company, 1901
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
The voice behind the words.
Personal byline in the 1901 Thoughts anthology. Basic source-backed attribution identity; lifetime and independent authorship verification not established here.
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