Had I not This, or This, I said

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



Had I not This, or This, I said,
Appealing to Myself,
In moment of prosperity—
Inadequate—were Life—

"Thou hast not Me, nor Me"—it said,
In Moment of Reverse—
"And yet Thou art industrious—
No need—hadst Thou—of us"?

My need—was all I had—I said—
The need did not reduce—
Because the food—exterminate—
The hunger—does not cease—

But diligence—is sharper—
Proportioned to the Chance—
To feed upon the Retrograde—
Enfeebles—the Advance—

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 16, 2023

21 sec read
646

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXXX AXBB AXXX XCXC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 471
Words 71
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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1 Comment
  • syreeta_b
    I have no idea what this poem is supposed to be about and it is like my 4th time reading it
    LikeReply2 years ago

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"Had I not This, or This, I said" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/11668/had-i-not-this,-or-this,-i-said>.

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