In lands I never saw, they say
In lands I never saw, they say,Immortal Alps look down,Whose bonnets touch the firmament,Whose sandals touch the town, --
Meek at whose everlasting feetA myriad daisies play.Which, sir, are you, and which am I,Upon an August day?
Words in this poem
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In lands I never saw, they say 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, In lands I never saw, they say, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/in-lands-i-never-saw-they-say.html, id L18968.
Form and metre
In lands I never saw, they say is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 say · downA · firmament · townA
- 2 -A-A feet · playA · i · dayA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In lands I never saw, they say, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Immortal Alps look down, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Whose bonnets touch the firmament, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Whose sandals touch the town, -- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Meek at whose everlasting feet | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| A myriad daisies play. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Which, sir, are you, and which am I, | 8 | ········ |
| Upon an August day? | 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.