Analysis of I years had been from home,
Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)
I years had been from home,
And now, before the door,
I dared not open, lest a face
I never saw before
Stare vacant into mine
And ask my business there.
My business,--just a life I left,
Was such still dwelling there?
I fumbled at my nerve,
I scanned the windows near;
The silence like an ocean rolled,
And broke against my ear.
I laughed a wooden laugh
That I could fear a door,
Who danger and the dead had faced,
But never quaked before.
I fitted to the latch
My hand, with trembling care,
Lest back the awful door should spring,
And leave me standing there.
I moved my fingers off
As cautiously as glass,
And held my ears, and like a thief
Fled gasping from the house.
Scheme | XAXA XBXB XXXX XAXA XBXB XXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (67%) |
Metre | 111111 010101 11110101 110101 110011 011101 11010111 111101 110111 110101 01011101 010111 110101 111101 11000111 110101 110101 1111001 11010111 011101 111101 110011 01110101 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 656 |
Words | 132 |
Sentences | 7 |
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) | 22 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 30, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 261 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"I years had been from home," Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11832/i-years-had-been-from-home%2C>.
Discuss this Emily Dickinson poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In