Topic > Rhyme, Rhythm, and Natural Imagery in Emily Dickinson's Poetry

Looking at Emily Dickinson's poem 666 “I cross Until I am weary,” we can see the poet's connections between the nature of life or spirituality and the subtleties of rhyme as well as meter; this connection is important because it sets a tone for the reading of the poem. Dickinson's natural imagery in this poem is important because it defines and adds momentum to the narrative. The rhyme scheme is staggered and alternates between true rhymes and oblique rhymes. In many ways, the tone of the poem reads much the same way we experience nature, with a lack of coherence and control. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Poem 666 opens: “Through until I'm tired / A mountain in my mind” (1-2). The speaker seems to be struggling with something, pushing himself past this obstacle until he is exhausted at the end of the day. The term “Mountain” is written in capital letters, placing emphasis on a large and perhaps insurmountable obstacle. The speaker continues: “More mountains- then a sea-/ More seas- And then/ A desert- finds-,” (3-5) once again capitalizing the names of these vast entities of nature: Mountain, Sea , Desert. The poet seems to realize that no matter how many obstacles she overcomes in life, and no matter how big, there will always be more. The first stanza consists of five lines, as is common for a Dickinson poem, although the rest of the poem's stanzas consist of only four lines forming quatrains. The only two rhymes present in this first verse are “mind” and “find”. These are also the only two terms important in setting the tone of the poem that do not have the emphasis imparted by capitalization; however, by rhyming the two, Dickinson gives them their own kind of separate emphasis. The rhyming terms in the first stanza allow the reader to discover a second, a different theme than that of nature. The meter of seven, six, six, four, four sets the rocky, challenging rhythm that continues throughout the rest of the poem. In the second stanza, the speaker states “And my horizon freezes / With drifting grains / Of unconjectureable quantity – Like Asian rains –” (6-9). She doesn't know what awaits her because what she can imagine of her future is somehow “erased” by this unknown number of events in the present. Dickinson continues the theme of travel through nature and through the world by referring to “Asian rains.” The meter in this stanza is six, six, eight and five, continuing the inconsistent rhythm of the poem. Two rhyming words used in this stanza are “Rains” and “Grains” which refer to the same image in different ways and refer to the natural theme of the poem as opposed to the rhyming words of the poem. first stanza, which referred to the more personal theme. Dickinson continues in the next stanza, "Nor this- defeat my pace-" (10), saying that no matter how unsure she is of the future or how difficult life becomes, she won't slow down. or she will be diverted from her path: “It hinders from the west/ But like the greeting of an enemy/ One who hastens to rest” (11-13). He doesn't want to die until he is at peace with his life. These three lines seem to move the poem simply from the natural world to the spiritual world as it considers its final “rest.” This quatrain also allows the poem to be read in a different way, which refers to a speaker who is constantly working and struggling and is, therefore, ready to move on from his mortal life. As a result of the connection between the natural and spiritual worlds in this particular stanza, the two rhyming words are “West” and “Rest,” where “West” denotes a part of the natural world and “Rest” symbolizes that?".