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
- 261 Views
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 |
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"I years had been from home," Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/11832/i-years-had-been-from-home,>.
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