I Took My Power in My Hand

Emily Dickinson · 1890

Catalog grade guidance: 8–12 — Short lyric; Todd/Higginson text of the three early series.

10 content lines · 52 words · Est. recitation about 33 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.

XXXIII.

THE DUEL.

I took my power in my hand.
And went against the world;
'T was not so much as David had,
But I was twice as bold.

I aimed my pebble, but myself
Was all the one that fell.
Was it Goliath was too large,
Or only I too small?