“There's been a Death, in the Opposite House” Summary

“There's been a Death, in the Opposite House” Themes

• 

  The Inevitability of Death

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• 

  The Pressures of Small-town Life

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “There's been a Death, in the Opposite House”

• Lines 1-4

  There's been a Death, in the Opposite House,
  As lately as Today —
  I know it, by the numb look
  Such Houses have — alway —

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  The Neighbors rustle in and out —
  The Doctor — drives away —
  A Window opens like a Pod —
  Abrupt — mechanically —

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  Somebody flings a Mattress out —
  The Children hurry by —
  They wonder if it died — on that —
  I used to — when a Boy —

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  The Minister — goes stiffly in —
  As if the House were His —
  And He owned all the Mourners — now —
  And little Boys — besides.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-19

  And then the Milliner — and the Man
  Of the Appalling Trade —
  To take the measure of the House —

  

  

  

  

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• Line 20

  There'll be that Dark Parade —

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  Of Tassels — and of Coaches — soon —
  It's easy as a Sign —
  The Intuition of the News —
  In just a Country Town —

  

  

  

  

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“There's been a Death, in the Opposite House” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Synecdoche

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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“There's been a Death, in the Opposite House” 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.

• The Opposite House
• Alway
• Pod
• Abrupt
• Flings
• Minister
• Milliner
• The Appalling Trade
• Tassels

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

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “There's been a Death, in the Opposite House”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“There's been a Death, in the Opposite House” Speaker

“There's been a Death, in the Opposite House” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “There's been a Death, in the Opposite House”

More “There's been a Death, in the Opposite House” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Manuscript of the Poem — See an image of the poem in Emily Dickinson's own handwriting.

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

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

  • Dickinson's Legacy — Listen to three contemporary writers discussing Dickinson's influence on their work.

  • A Portrait of Dickinson — See a recently rediscovered photo of Dickinson—one of only two we know of!—and learn more about her later life after she withdrew from society.

• 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

  • 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

  • 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!