Real
I like a look of agony,Because I know it 's true;Men do not sham convulsion,Nor simulate a throe.
The eyes glaze once, and that is death.Impossible to feignThe beads upon the foreheadBy homely anguish strung.
Words in this poem
- convulsion n.
- An unnatural, violent, and unvoluntary contraction of the muscular parts of an animal body. [L. convulsio: cf. F. convulsion.]
- simulate a.
- Feigned; pretended. Bale. [L. simulatus, p. p. of simulare to simulate; akin to simul at the same time, together, similis like. See Similar, and cf. Dissemble, Semblance.]
- throe n.
- Extreme pain; violent pang; anguish; agony; especially, one of the pangs of travail in childbirth, or purturition. [OE. , , AS. a threatening, oppression, suffering, perhaps influenced by Icel. a throe, a pang, a longing; cf. AS. to suffer.]
- homely a.
- Belonging to, or having the characteristics of, home; domestic; familiar; intimate. [From Home, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Real 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, Real, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/real.html, id L03625.
Form and metre
Real is 8 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 3 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.
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 like a look of agony, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Because I know it 's true; | 7 | ······· |
| Men do not sham convulsion, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Nor simulate a throe. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| The eyes glaze once, and that is death. | 8 | ········ |
| Impossible to feign | 6 | ˘/˘˘·· |
| The beads upon the forehead | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| By homely anguish strung. | 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.