Analysis of On such a night, or such a night

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



On such a night, or such a night,
Would anybody care
If such a little figure
Slipped quiet from its chair—

So quiet—Oh how quiet,
That nobody might know
But that the little figure
Rocked softer—to and fro—

On such a dawn, or such a dawn—
Would anybody sigh
That such a little figure
Too sound asleep did lie

For Chanticleer to wake it—
Or stirring house below—
Or giddy bird in orchard—
Or early task to do?

There was a little figure plump
For every little knoll—
Busy needles, and spools of thread—
And trudging feet from school—

Playmates, and holidays, and nuts—
And visions vast and small—
Strange that the feet so precious charged
Should reach so small a goal!


Scheme XABA XCBC XDBD XCXX XEXX XXXE
Poetic Form Quatrain  (50%)
Metre 11011101 110001 1101010 110111 1101110 1111 1101010 110101 11011101 110001 1101010 110111 11111 110101 1101010 110111 11010101 1100101 10100111 010111 101001 010101 11011101 111101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 676
Words 124
Sentences 3
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 87
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 11, 2023

37 sec read
190

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

All Emily Dickinson poems | Emily Dickinson Books

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