If your Nerve, deny you -- Go above your Nerve -- — Emily Dickinson · Smartyfair

If your Nerve, deny you -- Go above your Nerve --

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: “If your Nerve, deny you,” poem 292 in the University of Pennsylvania text; Opening two lines form a complete condition and imperative. Capitalization, comma and double-hyphen dash notation follow this edition.
Work: “If your Nerve, deny you,” poem 292 in the University of Pennsylvania text
Sources checked: writing.upenn.eduChecked using manual, 20 October 2026“If your Nerve, deny you,” poem 292 in the University of Pennsylvania text; Opening two lines form a complete condition and imperative. Capitalization, comma and double-hyphen dash notation follow this edition.

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