Analysis of 'Twas the old—road—through pain

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



'Twas the old—road—through pain—
That unfrequented—one—
With many a turn—and thorn—
That stops—at Heaven—

This—was the Town—she passed—
There—where she—rested—last—
Then—stepped more fast—
The little tracks—close prest—
Then—not so swift—
Slow—slow—as feet did weary—grow—
Then—stopped—no other track!

Wait! Look! Her little Book—
The leaf—at love—turned back—
Her very Hat—
And this worn shoe just fits the track—
Herself—though—fled!

Another bed—a short one—
Women make—tonight—
In Chambers bright—
Too out of sight—though—
For our hoarse Good Night—
To touch her Head!


Scheme XAXA BBBXXCD XDXDE AFFCFE
Poetic Form
Metre 101111 111 1100101 11110 110111 111101 1111 010111 1111 11111101 111101 110101 011111 0101 01111101 0111 0101011 10101 0101 11111 110111 1101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 646
Words 82
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 7, 5, 6
Lines Amount 22
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 111
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

24 sec read
243

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

All Emily Dickinson poems | Emily Dickinson Books

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