How happy is the little stone That rambles in the road alone, And…

How happy is the little stone That rambles in the road alone, And doesn't care about careers, And exigencies never fears; Whose coat of elemental brown A passing universe put on; And independent as the sun, Associates or glows alone, Fulfilling absolute decree In casual simplicity.

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: Simplicity, Poems: Second Series (1891); Exact wording and attribution checked. Wording follows the early edited Poems editions (1890–1891), which differ from modern manuscript editions. Complete poem contrasting the stone’s existence with human ambition and anxiety.
Work: Simplicity, Poems: Second Series (1891)
Sources checked: gutenberg.orgChecked using manual, 21 October 2026Simplicity, Poems: Second Series (1891); Exact wording and attribution checked. Wording follows the early edited Poems editions (1890–1891), which differ from modern manuscript editions. Complete poem contrasting the stone’s existence with human ambition and anxiety.