Analysis of Arcturus

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



"Arcturus" is his other name—
I'd rather call him "Star."
It's very mean of Science
To go and interfere!

I slew a worm the other day—
A "Savant" passing by
Murmured "Resurgam"—"Centipede"!
&q uot;Oh Lord—how frail are we"!

I pull a flower from the woods—
A monster with a glass
Computes the stamens in a breath—
And has her in a "class"!

Whereas I took the Butterfly
Aforetime in my hat—
He sits erect in "Cabinets"—
The Clover bells forgot.

What once was "Heaven"
Is "Zenith" now—
Where I proposed to go
When Time's brief masquerade was done
Is mapped and charted too.

What if the poles should frisk about
And stand upon their heads!
I hope I'm ready for "the worst"—
Whatever prank betides!

Perhaps the "Kingdom of Heaven's" changed—
I hope the "Children" there Won't be "new fashioned" when I come—
And laugh at me—and stare—

I hope the Father in the skies
Will lift his little girl—
Old fashioned—naught—everything—
Over the stile of "Pearl."  


Scheme XXAX XBXX XCXC BXXX DXXDX XXXA XXX XEXE
Poetic Form
Metre 1011101 110111 1101110 11001 11010101 001101 10110 1111111 11010101 010101 0101001 010001 0111010 1011 11010100 010101 11110 1101 110111 1110111 110101 11011101 010111 11110101 1011 010101101 11010111110111 011101 11010001 111101 110110 100111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 960
Words 172
Sentences 11
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4, 3, 4
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 89
Words per stanza (avg) 21
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

54 sec read
171

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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