Analysis of I tie my Hat—I crease my Shawl

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



I tie my Hat—I crease my Shawl—
Life's little duties do—precisely—
As the very least
Were infinite—to me—

I put new Blossoms in the Glass—
And throw the old—away—
I push a petal from my gown
That anchored there—I weigh
The time 'twill be till six o'clock
I have so much to do—
And yet—Existence—some way back—
Stopped—struck—my tickling—through—
We cannot put Ourself away
As a completed Man
Or Woman—When the Errand's done
We came to Flesh—upon—
There may be—Miles on Miles of Nought—
Of Action—sicker far—
To simulate—is stinging work—
To cover what we are
From Science—and from Surgery—
Too Telescopic Eyes
To bear on us unshaded—
For their—sake—not for Ours—
'Twould start them—
We—could tremble—
But since we got a Bomb—
And held it in our Bosom—
Nay—Hold it—it is calm—

Therefore—we do life's labor—
Though life's Reward—be done—
With scrupulous exactness—
To hold our Senses—on—


Scheme XABA CDXDXEXEDXFGBHXHAXBXXXIXI XFCG
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 110101010 10101 010011 11110001 010101 11010111 110111 01111101 111111 01010111 11111 110100101 100101 1101011 111101 11111111 110101 11001101 110111 11001100 10101 11111 1111110 111 1110 111101 01101010 111111 111110 110111 11001 1110101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 957
Words 150
Sentences 1
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 25, 4
Lines Amount 33
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 228
Words per stanza (avg) 49
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

46 sec read
184

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

All Emily Dickinson poems | Emily Dickinson Books

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