Analysis of We dream—it is good we are dreaming

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



We dream—it is good we are dreaming—
It would hurt us—were we awake—
But since it is playing—kill us,
And we are playing—shriek—

What harm? Men die—externally—
It is a truth—of Blood—
But we—are dying in Drama—
And Drama—is never dead—

Cautious—We jar each other—
And either—open the eyes—
Lest the Phantasm—prove the Mistake—
And the livid Surprise

Cool us to Shafts of Granite—
With just an Age—and Name—
And perhaps a phrase in Egyptian—
It's prudenter—to dream—


Scheme XAXX XXXX XBAB XXXX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (25%)
Metre 111111110 11110101 11111011 011101 11110100 110111 11110010 0101101 1011110 0101001 10101001 001001 1111110 111101 001010010 1111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 512
Words 80
Sentences 2
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 90
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

24 sec read
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Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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