When I was small, a Woman died

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



When I was small, a Woman died—
Today—her Only Boy
Went up from the Potomac—
His face all Victory

To look at her—How slowly
The Seasons must have turned
Till Bullets clipt an Angle
And He passed quickly round—

If pride shall be in Paradise—
Ourself cannot decide—
Of their imperial Conduct—
No person testified—

But, proud in Apparition—
That Woman and her Boy
Pass back and forth, before my Brain
As even in the sky—

I'm confident that Bravoes—
Perpetual break abroad
For Braveries, remote as this
In Scarlet Maryland—

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

28 sec read
304

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXC CXXX DAXA XBXX DXXX
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 534
Words 93
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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