Analysis of Better—than Music! For I—who heard it

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



Better—than Music! For I—who heard it—
I was used—to the Birds—before—
This—was different—'Twas Translation—
Of all tunes I knew—and more—

'Twasn't contained—like other stanza—
No one could play it—the second time—
But the Composer—perfect Mozart—
Perish with him—that Keyless Rhyme!

So—Children—told how Brooks in Eden—
Bubbled a better—Melody—
Quaintly infer—Eve's great surrender—
Urging the feet—that would—not—fly—

Children—matured—are wiser—mostly—
Eden—a legend—dimly told—
Eve—and the Anguish—Grandame's story—
But—I was telling a tune—I heard—

Not such a strain—the Church—baptizes—
When the last Saint—goes up the Aisles—
Not such a stanza splits the silence—
When the Redemption strikes her Bells—

Let me not spill—its smallest cadence—
Humming—for promise—when alone—
Humming—until my faint Rehearsal—
Drop into tune—around the Throne—


Scheme XABA CDXD BEXX EXEX CXFX FGXG
Poetic Form
Metre 1011011111 11110101 111001010 1111101 10111010 111110101 100100110 10111101 110111010 10010100 100111010 10011111 100111010 10010101 10010110 111100111 1101011 10111101 110101010 10010101 111111010 10110101 100111010 10110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 948
Words 116
Sentences 3
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 112
Words per stanza (avg) 19
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
184

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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