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Emily DickinsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The stanzas give the poem an organized look. Stanza 1 and 2 have four lines (a quatrain) and Stanza 3 has five lines (a quintain). Like the “formal feeling” (Line 1) and “Quartz contentment” (Line 9), the stanzas are dignified and contained. Meanwhile, the uneven line lengths link to alienation. The person in pain takes on several identities, and, likewise, the lines feature an array of lengths. The four lines in Stanza 1 and the last two lines in Stanza 3 are about the same length. Yet all of the lines in Stanza 5, and the first two lines in Stanza 3, are noticeably shorter. Within the clipped group of lines, there are even shorter lines, with three words in Line 6 and two words in Line 7. The curtailed lines reflect the sharp stoicism of “Quartz” or “a stone” (Line 9), while the longer lines allude to the “ceremonious […] Tombs” or “Nerves” (Line 2). As with the Nerves and Tombs, the longer lines are, due to the nature of their length, ornate.
The meter relates to the varying line lengths, Lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, and 13 use iambic pentameter, so they contain five pairs of unstressed, stressed syllables (iambs).
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird, came down the Walk
A Bird, came down the Walk
Emily Dickinson
A Clock stopped—
A Clock stopped—
Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
Emily Dickinson
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
"Faith" is a fine invention
Emily Dickinson
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Emily Dickinson
Hope is a strange invention
Hope is a strange invention
Emily Dickinson
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
Emily Dickinson
I Can Wade Grief
I Can Wade Grief
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
Emily Dickinson
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I should die
If I should die
Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the fall
If you were coming in the fall
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Emily Dickinson
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Emily Dickinson
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson