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The mountain sat upon the plain
Emily Dickinson · 1890–1896
Catalog grade guidance: 3–5 — Short Dickinson lyric; punctuation/dashes may need a brief teacher note.
8 content lines · 37 words · Est. recitation about 22 sec (approx.)
Public-domain text for reading and recitation practice. Source: Project Gutenberg Dickinson series hosted as poems-of-emily-dickinson.Estimated time uses ~120 words/minute plus short pauses—not a contest rule.
The mountain sat upon the plain In his eternal chair, His observation omnifold, His inquest everywhere. The seasons prayed around his knees, Like children round a sire: Grandfather of the days is he, Of dawn the ancestor.