Twas Crisis—All the length had passed

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



'Twas Crisis—All the length had passed—
That dull—benumbing time
There is in Fever or Event—
And now the Chance had come—

The instant holding in its claw
The privilege to live
Or warrant to report the Soul
The other side the Grave.

The Muscles grappled as with leads
That would not let the Will—
The Spirit shook the Adamant—
But could not make it feel.

The Second poised—debated—shot—
Another had begun—
And simultaneously, a Soul
Escaped the House unseen—

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

24 sec read
441

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXXX XXAX XXXX XXAX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 474
Words 81
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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