Analysis of Let Us play Yesterday

Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)



Let Us play Yesterday—
I—the Girl at school—
You—and Eternity—the
Untold Tale—

Easing my famine
At my Lexicon—
Logarithm—had I—for Drink—
'Twas a dry Wine—

Somewhat different—must be—
Dreams tint the Sleep—
Cunning Reds of Morning
Make the Blind—leap—

Still at the Egg-life—
Chafing the Shell—
When you troubled the Ellipse—
And the Bird fell—

Manacles be dim—they say—
To the new Free—
Liberty—Commoner—
N ever could—to me—

'Twas my last gratitude
When I slept—at night—
'Twas the first Miracle
Let in—with Light—

Can the Lark resume the Shell—
Easier—for the Sky—
Wouldn't Bonds hurt more
Than Yesterday?

Wouldn't Dungeons sorer frate
On the Man—free—
Just long enough to taste—
Then—doomed new—

God of the Manacle
As of the Free—
Take not my Liberty
Away from Me—  


Scheme ABXX XXXX CDXD XEXE ACXC XFXF EXXA XCXX BCCC
Poetic Form Quatrain  (44%)
Metre 11110 10111 1001000 011 10110 1110 1001111 1011 1110011 1101 101110 1011 11011 1001 1110001 0011 11111 1011 100100 110111 11110 11111 101100 1011 1010101 100101 10111 110 101011 1011 110111 111 1101 1101 111100 0111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 822
Words 129
Sentences 2
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 36
Letters per line (avg) 16
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 66
Words per stanza (avg) 14
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 12, 2023

39 sec read
92

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. more…

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