Poems
Love is anterior to life,Posterior to death,Initial of creation, andThe exponent of breath.
Words in this poem
- exponent n.
- A number, letter, or any quantity written on the right hand of and above another quantity, and denoting how many times the latter is repeated as a factor to produce the power indicated; [L. exponens, -entis, p. pr. of exponere to put out, set forth, expose. See Expound.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems 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, Poems, (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/poems.html, id L03771.
Form and metre
Poems is 4 lines in a single stanza.
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 life · deathA · and · breathA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Love is anterior to life, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Posterior to death, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Initial of creation, and | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| The exponent of breath. | 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.