Analysis of It don't sound so terrible—quite—as it did

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



It don't sound so terrible—quite—as it did—
I run it over—"Dead", Brain, "Dead."
Put it in Latin—left of my school—
Seems it don't shriek so—under rule.

Turn it, a little—full in the face
A Trouble looks bitterest—
Shift it—just—
Say "When Tomorrow comes this way—
I shall have waded down one Day."

I suppose it will interrupt me some
Till I get accustomed—but then the Tomb
Like other new Things—shows largest—then—
And smaller, by Habit—

It's shrewder then
Put the Thought in advance—a Year—
How like "a fit"—then—
Murder—wear!


Scheme XXAA XBBCC XXDX DXDX
Poetic Form
Metre 11111001111 11110111 110101111 11111101 110101001 0101100 111 1101111 11110111 101110111 1110101101 110111101 010110 111 10100101 11011 101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 565
Words 93
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 5, 4, 4
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 100
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

28 sec read
155

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

All Emily Dickinson poems | Emily Dickinson Books

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