“'Twas the old—road—through pain—” Summary

“'Twas the old—road—through pain—” Themes

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  Life and Death

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• 

  Faith, Grief, and the Promise of Heaven

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “'Twas the old—road—through pain—”

• Lines 1-4

  'Twas the old—road—through pain—
  That unfrequented—One—
  With many a turn—and thorn—
  That stops—at Heaven—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  This—was the Town—she passed—
  There—where she—rested—last—
  Then—stepped more fast—
  The little tracks—close prest—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-11

  Then—not so swift—
  Slow—slow—as feet did weary—grow—
  Then—stopped—no other track!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 12-16

  Wait! Look! Her little Book—
  The leaf—at love—turned back—
  Her very Hat—
  And this worn shoe just fits the track—
  Herself—though—fled!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-22

  Another bed—a short one—
  Women make—tonight—
  In Chambers bright—
  Too out of sight—though—
  For our hoarse Good Night—
  To touch her Head!

  

  

  

  

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“'Twas the old—road—through pain—” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Extended Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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“'Twas the old—road—through pain—” 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.

• 'Twas
• Unfrequented
• Tracks
• Close prest
• Chambers
• Hoarse

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

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “'Twas the old—road—through pain—”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“'Twas the old—road—through pain—” Speaker

“'Twas the old—road—through pain—” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “'Twas the old—road—through pain—”

More “'Twas the old—road—through pain—” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Musical Adaptation of the Poem — Listen to a version of the poem set to music 

  • A Biography of the Poet — Read about Dickinson's life and the influences that shaped her work in this biography from the Poetry Foundation.  

  • "In Our Time" Podcast — Listen to experts talk about Dickinson's life and work on the BBC's In Our Time podcast.

  • The Drift Called the Infinite — Check out an essay on Dickinson's relationship to death and eternity, which was, in reality, more complex than this poem suggests. 

• 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

  • 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

  • We grow accustomed to the Dark

  • What mystery pervades a well!

  • Whose cheek is this?

  • Wild nights - Wild nights!