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POEMS: A Word Is Dead |
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| A Word is Dead In this poem, Emily Dickinson examines the "life" of a word. First, she discusses how some believe that once a word is uttered, its importance is no longer necessary. That is, once it has served its purpose, it is no longer anything of importance. Whatever the word meant at the time has disappeared; it now exists only as a lonely word. Dickinson, however, feels that when a word is used, its importance and meaning is never lost. She feels that the emotions and feelings that went into the words being spoken remain, and that the word's meaning will forever remain that way. For instance, if someone were to say "I love you", the words' significance would not fade out after it was said. The person being told they were loved would forever remember what the word meant, and thus, the word would always live. This poem was written in short, concise lines to emphasize the importance of each and every word used. The rhyme scheme of aabcdb also shows importance as the tiny words that rhyme send tiny shivers through the reader because of their rhyme. The main theme of this poem is that words never lose their meaning once they are spoken. The intentions they were spoken with remain with the person spoken to as long as the words are remembered. |