Analysis of I would not paint—a picture

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



I would not paint—a picture—
I'd rather be the One
Its bright impossibility
To dwell—delicious—on—
And wonder how the fingers feel
Whose rare—celestial—stir—
Evokes so sweet a Torment—
Such sumptuous—Despair—

I would not talk, like Cornets—
I'd rather be the One
Raised softly to the Ceilings—
And out, and easy on—
Through Villages of Ether—
Myself endued Balloon
By but a lip of Metal—
The pier to my Pontoon—

Nor would I be a Poet—
It's finer—own the Ear—
Enamored—impotent—content—
The License to revere,
A privilege so awful
What would the Dower be,
Had I the Art to stun myself
With Bolts of Melody!


Scheme aBcdxaex fBfdaghg xxexhcxc
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010 110101 1100100 110101 01010101 110101 011101 11001 111111 110101 1101010 010101 1100110 10101 1101110 011101 1111010 110101 01010010 010101 010110 11011 1101111 111100
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 636
Words 106
Sentences 2
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 157
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
142

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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    A Maya Angelou
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