“I started Early — Took my Dog —” Summary

“I started Early — Took my Dog —” Themes

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  Adventure, Freedom, and the Allure of the Unknown

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• 

  Sexual Awakening and Desire

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “I started Early — Took my Dog —”

• Lines 1-2

  I started Early – Took my Dog –
  And visited the Sea –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 3-4

  The Mermaids in the Basement
  Came out to look at me –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  And Frigates – in the Upper Floor
  Extended Hempen Hands –
  Presuming Me to be a Mouse –
  Aground – opon the Sands –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  But no Man moved Me – till the Tide
  Went past my simple Shoe –
  And past my Apron – and my Belt
  And past my Boddice – too –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-15

  And made as He would eat me up –
  As wholly as a Dew
  Opon a Dandelion's Sleeve –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 16-17

  And then – I started – too –
  And He – He followed – close behind –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 18-20

  I felt His Silver Heel
  Opon my Ancle – Then My Shoes
  Would overflow with Pearl –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  Until We met the Solid Town –
  No One He seemed to know –
  And bowing – with a Mighty look –
  At me – The Sea withdrew –

  

  

  

  

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“I started Early — Took my Dog —” Symbols

• 

  The Dog

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• 

  The Sea

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• 

  The Solid Town

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“I started Early — Took my Dog —” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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“I started Early — Took my Dog —” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Basement
• Frigates
• Upper Floor
• Hempen Hands
• Presuming
• Aground
• Opon
• Moved
• Apron
• Boddice
• Made
• Wholly
• Dew
• Dandelion's Sleeve
• Started
• Silver Heel
• Ancle
• Pearl

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “I started Early — Took my Dog —”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“I started Early — Took my Dog —” Speaker

“I started Early — Took my Dog —” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “I started Early — Took my Dog —”

More “I started Early — Took my Dog —” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

  • Dickinson's Dog — Dickinson may or may not be the speaker of "I started Early – Took my Dog," but she did have a dog named Carlo, whom you can read about here!

  • The Original Manuscript — Take a look at the handwritten manuscript of the poem.

  • The Poet's Life — Read more about Emily Dickinson's work and life in this brief biographical overview.

  • Meter in Dickinson's Poetry — If you're looking for more information about how Emily Dickinson used meter in her poetry, check out this helpful overview.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Dickinson

  • A Bird, came down the Walk

  • After great pain, a formal feeling comes –

  • A Light exists in Spring

  • A Murmur in the Trees—to note—

  • A narrow Fellow in the Grass

  • An awful Tempest mashed the air—

  • As imperceptibly as grief

  • A still—Volcano—Life—

  • A Word dropped careless on a Page

  • Because I could not stop for Death —

  • Before I got my eye put out

  • Fame is a fickle food

  • Hope is the thing with feathers

  • I cannot live with You –

  • I cautious, scanned my little life

  • I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to—

  • I did not reach Thee

  • I died for Beauty—but was scarce

  • I dreaded that first Robin, so

  • I dwell in Possibility –

  • I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

  • If I can stop one heart from breaking

  • I had been hungry, all the Years

  • I have a Bird in spring

  • I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -

  • I like a look of Agony

  • I like to see it lap the Miles

  • I measure every Grief I meet

  • I’m Nobody! Who are you?

  • I taste a liquor never brewed

  • It was not Death, for I stood up

  • I—Years—had been—from Home—

  • Like Rain it sounded till it curved

  • Much Madness is divinest Sense -

  • My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun

  • Nature is what we see

  • One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted

  • Publication — is the Auction

  • Safe in their Alabaster Chambers

  • Shipwreck

  • Success is counted sweetest

  • Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

  • The Brain—is wider than the Sky—

  • The Bustle in a House

  • The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants

  • There came a Wind like a Bugle

  • There is no Frigate like a Book

  • There's a certain Slant of light

  • There's been a Death, in the Opposite House

  • The saddest noise, the sweetest noise

  • The Sky is low — the Clouds are mean

  • The Soul has bandaged moments

  • The Soul selects her own Society

  • The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –

  • They shut me up in Prose –

  • This is my letter to the world

  • This World is not Conclusion

  • 'Twas the old—road—through pain—

  • We grow accustomed to the Dark

  • What mystery pervades a well!

  • Whose cheek is this?

  • Wild nights - Wild nights!