The Lost Thought
I felt a clearing in my mindAs if my brain had split;I tried to match it, seam by seam,But could not make them fit.
The thought behind I strove to joinUnto the thought before,But sequence ravelled out of reachLike balls upon a floor.
About this text
The Lost Thought 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, The Lost Thought, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/the-lost-thought.html, id L03747.
Form and metre
The Lost Thought is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 38% 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 mind · splitA · seam · fitA
- 2 -A-A join · beforeA · reach · floorA
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 felt a clearing in my mind | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As if my brain had split; | 6 | ······ |
| I tried to match it, seam by seam, | 8 | ········ |
| But could not make them fit. | 6 | ······ |
| The thought behind I strove to join | 8 | ········ |
| Unto the thought before, | 6 | ······ |
| But sequence ravelled out of reach | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Like balls upon a floor. | 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.