Analysis of I know some lonely Houses off the Road

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



I know some lonely Houses off the Road
A Robber'd like the look of—
Wooden barred,
And Windows hanging low,
Inviting to—
A Portico,
Where two could creep—
One—hand the Tools—
The other peep—
To make sure All's Asleep—
Old fashioned eyes—
Not easy to surprise!

How orderly the Kitchen'd look, by night,
With just a Clock—
But they could gag the Tick—
And Mice won't bark—
And so the Walls—don't tell—
None—will—

A pair of Spectacles ajar just stir—
An Almanac's aware—
Was it the Mat—winked,
Or a Nervous Star?
The Moon—slides down the stair,
To see who's there!

There's plunder—where—
Tankard, or Spoon—
Earring—or Stone—
A Watch—Some Ancient Brooch
To match the Grandmama—
Staid sleeping—there—

Day—ratt les—too
Stealth's—slow—
T he Sun has got as far
As the third Sycamore—
Screams Chanticleer
"Who's there"?

And Echoes—Trains away,
Sneer—"Where"!
While the old Couple, just astir,
Fancy the Sunrise—left the door ajar!   


Scheme XXXABACXCCDD XXXXXX EFXGFF FXXXXF BAGXEF XFEG
Poetic Form Etheree  (40%)
Tetractys  (35%)
Metre 1111010101 011011 101 010101 0101 010 1111 1101 0101 111101 1101 110101 110001111 1101 111101 0111 010111 11 0111000111 1101 11011 10101 011101 1111 1101 1011 1011 011101 1101 1101 1111 11 1111111 10110 11 11 010101 11 1011011 100110101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 964
Words 153
Sentences 7
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 12, 6, 6, 6, 6, 4
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 18
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 117
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

49 sec read
163

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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