“I—Years—had been—from Home—” Introduction

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“I—Years—had been—from Home—” Summary

“I—Years—had been—from Home—” Themes

• 

  The Fear of Change

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “I—Years—had been—from Home—”

• Lines 1-5

  I—Years—had been—from Home—
  And now—before the Door—
  I dared not open—lest a face
  I never saw before
  Stare vacant into mine—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 6-8

  And ask my Business there—
  My Business—just a Life I left—
  Was such—still dwelling there?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-10

  I fumbled at my nerve—
  I scanned the Windows o'er—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 11-12

  The Silence—like an Ocean rolled—
  And broke against my Ear—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  I laughed a Wooden laugh—
  That I—could fear a Door—
  Who Danger—and the Dead—had faced—
  But never shook—before—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  I fitted to the Latch—my Hand—
  With trembling Care—
  Lest back the Awful Door should spring—
  And leave me—in the Floor—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-23

  I moved my fingers off, as cautiously as Glass—
  And held my Ears—and like a Thief
  Stole—gasping—from the House.

  

  

  

  

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“I—Years—had been—from Home—” Symbols

• 

  The Door

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“I—Years—had been—from Home—” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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“I—Years—had been—from Home—” 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.

• Before
• Lest
• Vacant
• Dwelling
• Fumbled
• O'er
• Stole

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “I—Years—had been—from Home—”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“I—Years—had been—from Home—” Speaker

“I—Years—had been—from Home—” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “I—Years—had been—from Home—”

More “I—Years—had been—from Home—” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem, in a slightly different version. Remember, many of Dickinson's poems exist in several different drafts, and some were altered without her knowledge when they were posthumously published.

  • The Poem in Dickinson's Hand — Take a look at one of Dickinson's original drafts of this poem.

  • The Emily Dickinson Museum — Visit the website of the Emily Dickinson Museum to learn more about the poet's life and work.

  • Editing Dickinson — Learn more about the complex history of Dickinson's poetry in print, including the editorial changes her first publishers made to much of her work.

  • Dickinson's Legacy — Read contemporary author Helen Oyeyemi's reflection on what Dickinson means to her.

• 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 started Early — Took my Dog —

  • I taste a liquor never brewed

  • It was not Death, for I stood up

  • 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!