Longing
I envy seas whereon he rides,I envy spokes of wheelsOf chariots that him convey,I envy speechless hills
That gaze upon his journey;How easy all can seeWhat is forbidden utterlyAs heaven, unto me!
I envy nests of sparrowsThat dot his distant eaves,The wealthy fly upon his pane,The happy, happy leaves
That just abroad his windowHave summer's leave to be,The earrings of PizarroCould not obtain for me.
I envy light that wakes him,And bells that boldly ringTo tell him it is noon abroad, --Myself his noon could bring,
Yet interdict my blossomAnd abrogate my bee,Lest noon in everlasting nightDrop Gabriel and me.
Words in this poem
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- speechless a.
- Destitute or deprived of the faculty of speech.
- pane n.
- The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- abrogate a.
- Abrogated; abolished. Latimer. [L. abrogatus, p. p.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Longing 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, Longing, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/longing.html, id L03781.
Form and metre
Longing 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%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 46% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 2 -A-A journey · seeA · utterly · meA
- 3 -A-A sparrows · eavesA · pane · leavesA
- 4 -A-A window · beA · pizarro · meA
- 5 -A-A him · ringA · abroad · bringA
- 6 -A-A blossom · beeA · night · meA
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 envy seas whereon he rides, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| I envy spokes of wheels | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of chariots that him convey, | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| I envy speechless hills | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| That gaze upon his journey; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| How easy all can see | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| What is forbidden utterly | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| As heaven, unto me! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I envy nests of sparrows | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| That dot his distant eaves, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The wealthy fly upon his pane, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The happy, happy leaves | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| That just abroad his window | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Have summer's leave to be, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The earrings of Pizarro | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Could not obtain for me. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| I envy light that wakes him, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And bells that boldly ring | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To tell him it is noon abroad, -- | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Myself his noon could bring, | 6 | ·/···· |
| Yet interdict my blossom | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And abrogate my bee, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Lest noon in everlasting night | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Drop Gabriel and me. | 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.