Thursday, April 5, 2012

What type of poem is Emily Dickinson's "Lost?"

"Lost" is composed of two quatrains. Given that the speaker is talking about loss, it could be considered a lament. Laments are characterized by the loss of something or a loved one. This poem also displays the poet's feelings. It is also short and contemplative, so it could be deemed a "lyric" poem. Lyrics are often described as poems that can be set to music. But lyric poetry is defined more broadly and does not necessarily have to be set to music. "Lost" could be defined as a lament but laments are associated with death and elegies. So, this poem is probably most accurately a lyric poem because it deals with the poet's personal thoughts. 


In terms of rhythm and meter, the poem is written in alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. The iamb is a metrical foot made of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The first line has four iambs and the second line has three. The rest of the poem follows this pattern. The iamb is often illustrated phonetically as "da DUM." Note how the first line follows this rhythm with the stressed syllable (DUM) in bold: "I lostworld the other day." 

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