Analysis of What if I say I shall not wait!
Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)
What if I say I shall not wait!
What if I burst the fleshly Gate—
And pass escaped—to thee!
What if I file this Mortal—off—
See where it hurt me—That's enough—
And wade in Liberty!
They cannot take me—any more!
Dungeons can call—and Guns implore
Unmeaning—now—to me—
As laughter—was—an hour ago—
Or Laces—or a Travelling Show—
Or who died—yesterday!
| Scheme | AAB XXB CCB DDX |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 11111111 1111011 010111 11111101 11111101 010100 11011101 10110101 1111 110111001 110101001 11110 |
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 380 |
| Words | 61 |
| Sentences | 6 |
| Stanzas | 4 |
| Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3 |
| Lines Amount | 12 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
| Words per line (avg) | 5 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 67 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 15 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 18 sec read
- 379 Views
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"What if I say I shall not wait!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12425/what-if-i-say-i-shall-not-wait%21>.
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