A thought went up my mind to-day
A thought went up my mind to-dayThat I have had before,But did not finish, -- some way back,I could not fix the year,
Nor where it went, nor why it cameThe second time to me,Nor definitely what it was,Have I the art to say.
But somewhere in my soul, I knowI 've met the thing before;It just reminded me -- 't was all --And came my way no more.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A thought went up my mind to-day is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, Project Gutenberg ebook #12242; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emily Dickinson, A thought went up my mind to-day, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/a-thought-went-up-my-mind-to-day.html, id L18943.
Form and metre
A thought went up my mind to-day is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 3 -A-A know · beforeA · all · moreA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A thought went up my mind to-day | 8 | ········ |
| That I have had before, | 6 | ······ |
| But did not finish, -- some way back, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I could not fix the year, | 6 | ······ |
| Nor where it went, nor why it came | 8 | ········ |
| The second time to me, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nor definitely what it was, | 8 | ·/˘˘˘··· |
| Have I the art to say. | 6 | ······ |
| But somewhere in my soul, I know | 8 | ·/······ |
| I 've met the thing before; | 7 | ······· |
| It just reminded me -- 't was all -- | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| And came my way no more. | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.