She dealt her pretty words like Blades

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



She dealt her pretty words like Blades—
How glittering they shone—
And every One unbared a Nerve
Or wantoned with a Bone—

She never deemed—she hurt—
That—is not Steel's Affair—
A vulgar grimace in the Flesh—
How ill the Creatures bear—

To Ache is human—not polite—
The Film upon the eye
Mortality's old Custom—
Just locking up—to Die.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

18 sec read
247

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA XBXB XCXC
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 357
Words 60
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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