Old-Fashioned
Arcturus is his other name, --I'd rather call him star!It's so unkind of scienceTo go and interfere!
I pull a flower from the woods, --A monster with a glassComputes the stamens in a breath,And has her in a class.
Whereas I took the butterflyAforetime in my hat,He sits erect in cabinets,The clover-bells forgot.
What once was heaven, is zenith now.Where I proposed to goWhen time's brief masquerade was done,Is mapped, and charted too!
What if the poles should frisk aboutAnd stand upon their heads!I hope I 'm ready for the worst,Whatever prank betides!
Perhaps the kingdom of Heaven 's changed!I hope the children thereWon't be new-fashioned when I come,And laugh at me, and stare!
I hope the father in the skiesWill lift his little girl, --Old-fashioned, naughty, everything, --Over the stile of pearl!
Words in this poem
- arcturus n.
- A fixed star of the first magnitude in the constellation Boötes. [L. Arcturus, Gr. Arctic.]
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- whereas adv.
- At which place; where.
- aforetime adv.
- In time past; formerly.
- naughty a.
- Having little or nothing.
- stile n.
- A pin set on the face of a dial, to cast a shadow; a style. See Style. Moxon. [See Style.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old-Fashioned 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, Old-Fashioned, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/old-fashioned.html, id L03689.
Form and metre
Old-Fashioned is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 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 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 woods · glassA · breath · classA
- 6 -A-A changed · thereA · come · stareA
- 7 -A-A skies · girlA · everything · pearlA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arcturus is his other name, -- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I'd rather call him star! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| It's so unkind of science | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| To go and interfere! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I pull a flower from the woods, -- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A monster with a glass | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Computes the stamens in a breath, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And has her in a class. | 6 | ······ |
| Whereas I took the butterfly | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Aforetime in my hat, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| He sits erect in cabinets, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| The clover-bells forgot. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| What once was heaven, is zenith now. | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Where I proposed to go | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| When time's brief masquerade was done, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Is mapped, and charted too! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| What if the poles should frisk about | 8 | ········ |
| And stand upon their heads! | 6 | ······ |
| I hope I 'm ready for the worst, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Whatever prank betides! | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Perhaps the kingdom of Heaven 's changed! | 10 | ˘/·/˘·/˘·· |
| I hope the children there | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Won't be new-fashioned when I come, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And laugh at me, and stare! | 6 | ······ |
| I hope the father in the skies | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Will lift his little girl, -- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Old-fashioned, naughty, everything, -- | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Over the stile of pearl! | 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.