Could I but ride indefinite
Could I but ride indefinite,As doth the meadow-bee,And visit only where I liked,And no man visit me,
And flirt all day with buttercups,And marry whom I may,And dwell a little everywhere,Or better, run away
With no police to follow,Or chase me if I do,Till I should jump peninsulasTo get away from you, --
I said, but just to be a beeUpon a raft of air,And row in nowhere all day long,And anchor off the bar,--What liberty! So captives deemWho tight in dungeons are.
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Could I but ride indefinite 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, Could I but ride indefinite, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/could-i-but-ride-indefinite.html, id L19039.
Form and metre
Could I but ride indefinite is 18 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 indefinite · beeA · liked · meA
- 2 -A-A buttercups · mayA · everywhere · awayA
- 3 -A-A follow · doA · peninsulas · youA
- 4 ---A-A bee · air · long · barA · deem · areA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Could I but ride indefinite, | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| As doth the meadow-bee, | 6 | ···/·· |
| And visit only where I liked, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And no man visit me, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And flirt all day with buttercups, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And marry whom I may, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And dwell a little everywhere, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Or better, run away | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| With no police to follow, | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Or chase me if I do, | 6 | ······ |
| Till I should jump peninsulas | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| To get away from you, -- | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| I said, but just to be a bee | 8 | ········ |
| Upon a raft of air, | 6 | ······ |
| And row in nowhere all day long, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And anchor off the bar,-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| What liberty! So captives deem | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Who tight in dungeons are. | 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.