Who really said it
This is the opening of Dickinson’s short poem “Dawn,” published posthumously in Poems: Third Series (1896); the manuscript (Fr1647) is a fair copy Dickinson made around 1884.
Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?
For presentations
Verified quote & credit
“Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door” — Emily Dickinson
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Evoking the world of Emily Dickinson — American poet. Theme: "Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
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Provenance
Not knowing when the Dawn will come, I open every Door; Or has it Feathers, like a Bird, Or Billows, like a Shore—
Full text of the four-line poem as printed in Poems: Third Series (1896), titled “Dawn.”
Read “Dawn” in the 1896 Poems: Third Series (Project Gutenberg)How we verified this
“Dawn” was first published in 1896, and Dickinson died in 1886 — both well before the 1931 U.S. public-domain cutoff, so the poem is in the public domain in the United States.
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Full text of the 1896 volume containing “Dawn,” confirmed to include the exact opening lines.
Wikisource versions page listing the poem's 1896 and 1924 publications.
Scholarly archive entry showing the poem (Johnson 1619) as sent by Dickinson to her correspondent Thomas Higginson.
Manuscript-level record giving the Franklin number and an approximate ca. 1884 composition date.
Amherst College's digitized manuscript transcription of the poem.
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The author
For writers & researchers
Dickinson, Emily. “Dawn.” In Poems by Emily Dickinson, Third Series, edited by Mabel Loomis Todd, 109. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1896. (Johnson no. 1619; Franklin no. 1647.)
Dickinson, Emily. “Dawn.” Poems by Emily Dickinson, Third Series, edited by Mabel Loomis Todd, Roberts Brothers, 1896, p. 109.
Dickinson, E. (1896). Dawn. In M. L. Todd (Ed.), Poems by Emily Dickinson, third series (p. 109). Roberts Brothers. (Original work written c. 1884)
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/not-knowing-when-the-dawn-will-come-i-open-every-door