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A Word Is Dead
Emily Dickinson · 1890
Catalog grade guidance: 5–12 — Short lyric; Todd/Higginson text of the three early series.
8 content lines · 22 words · Est. recitation about 16 sec (approx.)
Public-domain text for reading and recitation practice. Source: Project Gutenberg eBook #12242, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete.Estimated time uses ~120 words/minute plus short pauses—not a contest rule.
VI. A WORD. A word is dead When it is said, Some say. I say it just Begins to live That day.