The Lovers
The rose did caper on her cheek,Her bodice rose and fell,Her pretty speech, like drunken men,Did stagger pitiful.
Her fingers fumbled at her work, --Her needle would not go;What ailed so smart a little maidIt puzzled me to know,
Till opposite I spied a cheekThat bore another rose;Just opposite, another speechThat like the drunkard goes;
A vest that, like the bodice, dancedTo the immortal tune, --Till those two troubled little clocksTicked softly into one.
Words in this poem
- bodice n.
- A kind of under waist stiffened with whalebone, etc., worn esp. by women; a corset; stays. [This is properly the plural of body, Oe. bodise a pair of bodies, equiv. to a bodice. Cf. Corset, and see Body.]
- vest n.
- An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lovers 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 Lovers, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/the-lovers.html, id L03671.
Form and metre
The Lovers is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 cheek · fellA · men · pitifulA
- 2 -A-A work · goA · maid · knowA
- 3 -A-A cheek · roseA · speech · goesA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The rose did caper on her cheek, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her bodice rose and fell, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Her pretty speech, like drunken men, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Did stagger pitiful. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Her fingers fumbled at her work, -- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Her needle would not go; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| What ailed so smart a little maid | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It puzzled me to know, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Till opposite I spied a cheek | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| That bore another rose; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Just opposite, another speech | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘· |
| That like the drunkard goes; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A vest that, like the bodice, danced | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To the immortal tune, -- | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Till those two troubled little clocks | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Ticked softly into one. | 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.