Analysis of I cannot dance upon my Toes
Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)
I cannot dance upon my Toes—
No Man instructed me—
But oftentimes, among my mind,
A Glee possesseth me,
That had I Ballet knowledge—
Would put itself abroad
In Pirouette to blanch a Troupe—
Or lay a Prima, mad,
And though I had no Gown of Gauze—
No Ringlet, to my Hair,
Nor hopped to Audiences—like Birds,
One Claw upon the Air,
Nor tossed my shape in Eider Balls,
Nor rolled on wheels of snow
Till I was out of sight, in sound,
The House encore me so—
Nor any know I know the Art
I mention—easy—Here—
Nor any Placard boast me—
It's full as Opera—
| Scheme | XAXA XXXX XBXB XCXC XXAX |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | Quatrain (60%) Etheree (30%) |
| Metre | 11010111 110101 1100111 0111 1110110 110101 0011101 110101 01111111 11111 111100011 110101 1111011 111111 11111101 01111 11011101 110101 1101011 11110 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 560 |
| Words | 108 |
| Sentences | 1 |
| Stanzas | 5 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
| Lines Amount | 20 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
| Words per line (avg) | 5 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 83 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 595 Views
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"I cannot dance upon my Toes" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11727/i-cannot-dance-upon-my-toes>.
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