I started early, took my dog
I started early, took my dog,And visited the sea;The mermaids in the basementCame out to look at me,
And frigates in the upper floorExtended hempen hands,Presuming me to be a mouseAground, upon the sands.
But no man moved me till the tideWent past my simple shoe,And past my apron and my belt,And past my bodice too,
And made as he would eat me upAs wholly as a dewUpon a dandelion's sleeve --And then I started too.
And he -- he followed close behind;I felt his silver heelUpon my ankle, -- then my shoesWould overflow with pearl.
Until we met the solid town,No man he seemed to know;And bowing with a mighty lookAt me, the sea withdrew.
Words in this poem
- hempen a.
- Made of hemp; as, a hempen cord.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- bodice n.
- A kind of under waist stiffened with whalebone, etc., worn esp. by women; a corset; stays. [This is properly the plural of body, Oe. bodise a pair of bodies, equiv. to a bodice. Cf. Corset, and see Body.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I started early, took my dog 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, I started early, took my dog, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/i-started-early-took-my-dog.html, id L26148.
Form and metre
I started early, took my dog is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 dog · seaA · basement · meA
- 2 -A-A floor · handsA · mouse · sandsA
- 3 -A-A tide · shoeA · belt · tooA
- 4 -A-A up · dewA · sleeve · tooA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I started early, took my dog, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And visited the sea; | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| The mermaids in the basement | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| Came out to look at me, | 6 | ······ |
| And frigates in the upper floor | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Extended hempen hands, | 6 | ˘/˘/˘· |
| Presuming me to be a mouse | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Aground, upon the sands. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| But no man moved me till the tide | 8 | ········ |
| Went past my simple shoe, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And past my apron and my belt, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And past my bodice too, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And made as he would eat me up | 8 | ········ |
| As wholly as a dew | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Upon a dandelion's sleeve -- | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| And then I started too. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And he -- he followed close behind; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I felt his silver heel | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Upon my ankle, -- then my shoes | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Would overflow with pearl. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Until we met the solid town, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No man he seemed to know; | 6 | ······ |
| And bowing with a mighty look | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| At me, the sea withdrew. | 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.