I've seen a dying eye
I've seen a dying eyeRun round and round a roomIn search of something, as it seemed,Then cloudier become;And then, obscure with fog,And then be soldered down,Without disclosing what it be,'T were blessed to have seen.
About this text
I've seen a dying eye 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've seen a dying eye, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/i-ve-seen-a-dying-eye.html, id L18917.
Form and metre
I've seen a dying eye is 8 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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.
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I've seen a dying eye | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Run round and round a room | 6 | ······ |
| In search of something, as it seemed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then cloudier become; | 5 | ···˘/ |
| And then, obscure with fog, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And then be soldered down, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Without disclosing what it be, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| 'T were blessed to have seen. | 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.