Analysis of I Came to buy a smile—today
Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)
I Came to buy a smile—today—
But just a single smile—
The smallest one upon your face
Will suit me just as well—
The one that no one else would miss
It shone so very small—
I'm pleading at the "counter"—sir—
Could you afford to sell—
I've Diamonds—on my fingers—
You know what Diamonds are?
I've Rubies—live the Evening Blood—
And Topaz—like the star!
'Twould be "a Bargain" for a Jew!
Say—may I have it—Sir?
| Scheme | ABCDEFGDHIJIKG |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 11110101 110101 01010111 111111 01111111 111101 11010101 110111 1101110 111101 11010101 01101 11010101 111111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 433 |
| Words | 77 |
| Sentences | 5 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 14 |
| Lines Amount | 14 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
| Words per line (avg) | 5 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 307 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 75 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 31, 2023
- 24 sec read
- 419 Views
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"I Came to buy a smile—today" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11723/i-came-to-buy-a-smile%E2%80%94today>.
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