Nature, the gentlest mother, Impatient of no child, The feeblest or…

Nature, the gentlest mother, Impatient of no child, The feeblest or the waywardest, -- Her admonition mild In forest and the hill By traveller is heard, Restraining rampant squirrel Or too impetuous bird.

Emily Dickinson1830–1886 · poet · 1800s USAEmily Dickinson wrote nearly 1,800 poems in Amherst, Massachusetts, in short lines full of dashes that made ordinary words feel startling and new.47 quotes

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How sure this is: 95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up: Mother Nature, Poems: Second Series (1891); Exact wording and attribution checked. Wording follows the early edited Poems editions (1890–1891), which differ from modern manuscript editions. The opening two stanzas form a complete sentence personifying nature as an inclusive mother.
Work: Mother Nature, Poems: Second Series (1891)
Sources checked: gutenberg.orgChecked using manual, 21 October 2026Mother Nature, Poems: Second Series (1891); Exact wording and attribution checked. Wording follows the early edited Poems editions (1890–1891), which differ from modern manuscript editions. The opening two stanzas form a complete sentence personifying nature as an inclusive mother.