As by the dead we love to sit
As by the dead we love to sit,Become so wondrous dear,As for the lost we grapple,Though all the rest are here, --
In broken mathematicsWe estimate our prize,Vast, in its fading ratio,To our penurious eyes!
Words in this poem
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
As by the dead we love to sit 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, As by the dead we love to sit, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/as-by-the-dead-we-love-to-sit.html, id L18991.
Form and metre
As by the dead we love to sit is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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.
- 1 -A-A sit · dearA · grapple · hereA
- 2 -A-A mathematics · prizeA · ratio · eyesA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As by the dead we love to sit, | 8 | ········ |
| Become so wondrous dear, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| As for the lost we grapple, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Though all the rest are here, -- | 6 | ······ |
| In broken mathematics | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| We estimate our prize, | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Vast, in its fading ratio, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To our penurious eyes! | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
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.