Analysis of It would have starved a Gnat
Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)
It would have starved a Gnat—
To live so small as I—
And yet I was a living Child—
With Food's necessity
Upon me—like a Claw—
I could no more remove
Than I could coax a Leech away—
Or make a Dragon—move—
Not like the Gnat—had I—
The privilege to fly
And seek a Dinner for myself—
How mightier He—than I—
Nor like Himself—the Art
Upon the Window Pane
To gad my little Being out—
And not begin—again—
| Scheme | XAXX XBXB AAXA XXXX |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | Quatrain (25%) |
| Metre | 111101 111111 01110101 110100 011101 111101 11110101 110101 110111 01011 0101011 1100111 110101 010101 11110101 010101 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 425 |
| Words | 80 |
| Sentences | 1 |
| Stanzas | 4 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
| Lines Amount | 16 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
| Words per line (avg) | 5 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 76 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 20 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 24 sec read
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"It would have starved a Gnat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11902/it-would-have-starved-a-gnat>.
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