How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Genius Annotation

This poem has been said to mirror the journey of Emily Dickinson as she attempted to diagnose her own mental instability. The speaker echoes a person who is attempting to fathom her own state of mind.

This is one of Dickinson’s so-called “Poems of Definition”, in which she tried to define her mental state. They often form riddles; here it is the undefined “It”. She uses a range of devices; analogy, metaphor and complex description. And of course, definition in the case of mental illness and emotional instability is impossible.

Dickinson was manic depressive, she suffered from seasonal mood disorders and general mental illness from a young age, exacerbated by the deaths of friends and family members. Other speculated causes for her illness include agoraphobia (fear of large spaces and going out), a wish to avoid social obligations, disappointed love. Her struggle with psychological illness is mirrored here and within many of her other poems.

Death appears frequently in Dickinson’s poetry, and does so here. Unusually, she focuses on an unidentified “It”, that isn’t death, so the reader is left mystified.

See for comparison “Because I could not stop for Death”.

Structure
The poem comprises six quatrains, that is stanzas of four lines each. There is a simple ABCB rhyme scheme. The metrical rhythm is made up of alternating iambic tetrameters — that is four metrical feet, each foot comprising an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable — and iambic trimeters, that is three metrical feet per line.

Stanzas one and two explore what “Death” is not. This is followed by two stanzas that try to define death. The final stanza echoes the first two in attempting to make a definitive comparison — “But, most, like Chaos —”

Language and Imagery
The voice is that of the poet using the first person pronoun"I" and addressing an unknown listener or the reader. The tone is muted and analytical, and conveys an analytical detachment until the final stanza and the reference to “Chaos” and “Despair”. The understatement enlarges the sense of desperation.

The poem includes the characteristic features of Dickinson’s poetry, frequent dashes and capitalization. These create strong caesurae and emphasis, particuarly important in this poem about a troubled mind and which has no clear resolution.

The choice of diction is powerful, with memorable metaphors — for example, her life is “Shaven/ And fitted to a frame”, and “everything that ticked — has stopped” meaning her heart. The language warrents close analysis.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

  1. 41.
    Deed
  2. 107.
    Storm
  3. 108.
    The Rat
  4. 128.
    Epitaph
  5. 157.
    Requiem
  6. 159.
    It was not Death, for I stood up (510)
  7. 161.
    Void
Comments