Enough
God gave a loaf to every bird,But just a crumb to me;I dare not eat it, though I starve, --My poignant luxuryTo own it, touch it, prove the featThat made the pellet mine, --Too happy in my sparrow chanceFor ampler coveting.
It might be famine all around,I could not miss an ear,Such plenty smiles upon my board,My garner shows so fair.I wonder how the rich may feel, --An Indiaman -- an Earl?I deem that I with but a crumbAm sovereign of them all.
Words in this poem
- crumb n.
- A small fragment or piece; especially, a small piece of bread or other food, broken or cut off. [AS. cruma, akin to D. kruim, G. krume; cf. G. krauen to scratch, claw.]
- poignant a.
- Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent. [F., p. pr. of poindre to sting, fr. L. pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]
- pellet v.
- To form into small balls.
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- garner n.
- A granary; a building or place where grain is stored for preservation. [OE. garner, gerner, greiner, OF. gernier, grenier, F. grenier, fr. L. granarium, fr. granum. See 1st Grain, and cf. Granary.]
- indiaman n.
- A large vessel in the India trade.
- 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
Enough 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, Enough, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/enough.html, id L03651.
Form and metre
Enough is 16 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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.
- 2 -A-A---- around · earA · board · fairA · feel · earl · crumb · all
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| God gave a loaf to every bird, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| But just a crumb to me; | 6 | ······ |
| I dare not eat it, though I starve, -- | 8 | ········ |
| My poignant luxury | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| To own it, touch it, prove the feat | 8 | ········ |
| That made the pellet mine, -- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Too happy in my sparrow chance | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For ampler coveting. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| It might be famine all around, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I could not miss an ear, | 6 | ······ |
| Such plenty smiles upon my board, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My garner shows so fair. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I wonder how the rich may feel, -- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An Indiaman -- an Earl? | 7 | ·/˘˘˘·· |
| I deem that I with but a crumb | 8 | ········ |
| Am sovereign of them all. | 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.