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If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson · 1890
Catalog grade guidance: 6–12 — Short lyric; Todd/Higginson text of the three early series.
8 content lines · 42 words · Est. recitation about 25 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. 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.