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.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 30, 2023

39 sec read
259

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA XBXB XXXX XAXA XBXB XXXX
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 656
Words 132
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

All Emily Dickinson poems | Emily Dickinson Books

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