Satisfied
One blessing had I, than the restSo larger to my eyesThat I stopped gauging, satisfied,For this enchanted size.
It was the limit of my dream,The focus of my prayer, --A perfect, paralyzing blissContented as despair.
I knew no more of want or cold,Phantasms both become,For this new value in the soul,Supremest earthly sum.
The heaven below the heaven aboveObscured with ruddier hue.Life's latitude leant over-full;The judgment perished, too.
Why joys so scantily disburse,Why Paradise defer,Why floods are served to us in bowls, --I speculate no more.
Words in this poem
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- scantily adv.
- In a scanty manner; not fully; not plentifully; sparingly; parsimoniously.
- disburse v. t.
- To pay out; to expend; -- usually from a public fund or treasury. [OF. desbourser, F. débourser; pref. des- (L. dis- ) + bourse purse. See Burse, and cf. Dispurse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Satisfied 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, Satisfied, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/satisfied.html, id L03772.
Form and metre
Satisfied is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 20% 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.
- 1 -A-A rest · eyesA · satisfied · sizeA
- 2 -A-A dream · prayerA · bliss · despairA
- 3 -A-A cold · becomeA · soul · sumA
- 4 -A-A above · hueA · full · tooA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| One blessing had I, than the rest | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So larger to my eyes | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That I stopped gauging, satisfied, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| For this enchanted size. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| It was the limit of my dream, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The focus of my prayer, -- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A perfect, paralyzing bliss | 8 | ·˘//˘·˘· |
| Contented as despair. | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| I knew no more of want or cold, | 8 | ········ |
| Phantasms both become, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| For this new value in the soul, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Supremest earthly sum. | 6 | ˘/˘/˘· |
| The heaven below the heaven above | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| Obscured with ruddier hue. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Life's latitude leant over-full; | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| The judgment perished, too. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Why joys so scantily disburse, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Why Paradise defer, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Why floods are served to us in bowls, -- | 8 | ········ |
| I speculate no more. | 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.