There's been a death in the opposite house
There's been a death in the opposite houseAs lately as to-day.I know it by the numb lookSuch houses have alway.
The neighbors rustle in and out,The doctor drives away.A window opens like a pod,Abrupt, mechanically;
Somebody flings a mattress out, --The children hurry by;They wonder if It died on that, --I used to when a boy.
The minister goes stiffly inAs if the house were his,And he owned all the mourners now,And little boys besides;
And then the milliner, and the manOf the appalling trade,To take the measure of the house.There'll be that dark parade
Of tassels and of coaches soon;It's easy as a sign, --The intuition of the newsIn just a country town.
Words in this poem
- rustle v. i.
- To make a quick succession of small sounds, like the rubbing or moving of silk cloth or dry leaves. [AS. hristlan to rustle; or cf. Sw. rusta to stir, make a riot, or E. rush, v.]
- mechanically adv.
- In a mechanical manner.
- somebody n.
- A person unknown or uncertain; a person indeterminate; some person.
- mattress n.
- A quilted bed; a bed stuffed with hair, moss, or other suitable material, and quilted or otherwise fastened. [OF. materas, F. matelas, LL. matratium; cf. Sp. & Pg. almadraque, Pr. almatrac; all from Ar. matsrah a place where anything is thrown, what is thrown under some]
- stiffly adv.
- In a stiff manner.
- milliner n.
- Formerly, a man who imported and dealt in small articles of a miscellaneous kind, especially such as please the fancy of women. [From Milaner an inhabitant of Milan, in Italy; hence, a man from Milan who imported women's finery.]
- appalling a.
- Such as to appall; as, an appalling accident.
- intuition n.
- A looking after; a regard to. [L. intuitus, p. p. of intueri to look on; in- in, on + tueri: cf. F. intuition. See Tuition.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
There's been a death in the opposite house 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, There's been a death in the opposite house, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/there-s-been-a-death-in-the-opposite-house.html, id L19073.
Form and metre
There's been a death in the opposite house is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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.
- 5 -A-A man · tradeA · house · paradeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There's been a death in the opposite house | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| As lately as to-day. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I know it by the numb look | 7 | ······· |
| Such houses have alway. | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| The neighbors rustle in and out, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The doctor drives away. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| A window opens like a pod, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Abrupt, mechanically; | 6 | ˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Somebody flings a mattress out, -- | 8 | /·˘··/˘· |
| The children hurry by; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| They wonder if It died on that, -- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I used to when a boy. | 6 | ······ |
| The minister goes stiffly in | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| As if the house were his, | 6 | ······ |
| And he owned all the mourners now, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And little boys besides; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And then the milliner, and the man | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Of the appalling trade, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| To take the measure of the house. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| There'll be that dark parade | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Of tassels and of coaches soon; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| It's easy as a sign, -- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The intuition of the news | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| In just a country town. | 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.