Analysis of Grief is a Mouse

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



Grief is a Mouse—
And chooses Wainscot in the Breast
For His Shy House—
And baffles quest—

Grief is a Thief—quick startled—
Pricks His Ear—report to hear
Of that Vast Dark—
That swept His Being—back—

Grief is a Juggler—boldest at the Play—
Lest if He flinch—the eye that way
Pounce on His Bruises—One—say—or Three—
Grief is a Gourmand—spare His luxury—

Best Grief is Tongueless—before He'll tell—
Burn Him in the Public Square—
His Ashes—will
Possibly—if they refuse—How then know—
Since a Rack couldn't coax a syllable—now.


Scheme ABAB XXXX CCDD XXXXX
Poetic Form
Metre 1101 0101001 1111 0101 1101110 1110111 1111 111101 11010010101 11110111 111101111 110111100 11110111 1100101 1101 1001101111 10110101001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 568
Words 88
Sentences 2
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 5
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 103
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 30, 2023

27 sec read
402

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

All Emily Dickinson poems | Emily Dickinson Books

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