Analysis of In Winter in my Room

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



In Winter in my Room
I came upon a Worm—
Pink, lank and warm—
But as he was a worm
And worms presume
Not quite with him at home—
Secured him by a string
To something neighboring
And went along.

A Trifle afterward
A thing occurred
I'd not believe it if I heard
But state with creeping blood—
A snake with mottles rare
Surveyed my chamber floor
In feature as the worm before
But ringed with power—

The very string with which
I tied him—too
When he was mean and new
That string was there—

I shrank—"How fair you are"!
Propitiation's claw—
"Afraid," he hissed
"Of me"?
"No cordiality"—
He fathomed me—
Then to a Rhythm Slim
Secreted in his Form
As Patterns swim
Projected him.

That time I flew
Both eyes his way
Lest he pursue
Nor ever ceased to run
Till in a distant Town
Towns on from mine
I set me down
This was a dream.


Scheme ABCBAXDDX EEEXFGGX XHHF XXXIEIJCJJ HXHXKXKX
Poetic Form
Metre 010011 110101 1101 111101 0101 111111 011101 110100 0101 010100 0101 11011111 111101 01111 011101 01010101 11110 010111 1111 111101 1111 111111 11 0111 11 11 111 110101 010011 1101 0101 1111 1111 1101 110111 100101 1111 1111 1101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 811
Words 162
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 9, 8, 4, 10, 8
Lines Amount 39
Letters per line (avg) 16
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 127
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

49 sec read
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Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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    Which of these poets was not American?
    A Ezra Pound
    B Rudyard Kipling
    C Walt Whitman
    D Emily Dickinson