What is special about the way poets choose and use words?
An eager reader might skim a chapter in a novel to find out "whodunit" or to learn whether the lovers will live happily after. Poems, though, are not written for skimming. Compared to the writer of a novel, a play, or even a short story, the poet has a short space to introduce and develop an important idea—the poem's theme. That's why poets work so hard to choose just the right words. To see how carefully a poet chooses words, take a look at this Emily Dickinson poem—just 43 words long—about children at play.
From all the jails the boys and girls
Ecstatically leap, —
Question
Two strong words are in the poem's first two lines: jails and ecstatically. What kind of "jails" might the "boys and girls" have escaped? Why are they ecstatic about their escape?
The speaker can't mean actual jails, where criminals must stay. So she must mean something that feels like jail to children. Perhaps she means school, since the day of escape is Saturday, which is not a school day. The word ecstatically captures the children's wild joy. They're not just happy—they're crazy happy!
From all the jails the boys and girls
Ecstatically leap, —
Beloved, only afternoon
That prison doesn't keep.
Question
Now that you've read the next two lines, how do you understand the poem better? What words stand out to you in these lines?
Sure enough, Saturday afternoon is the time that "prison" can't "keep" the kids indoors. The word beloved is very strong. The children don't just enjoy Saturday. They adore this time! And since Saturday is the only day that they're free from "prison," readers can guess that Sunday is also a day when children can't play as they like to.
They storm the earth and stun the air,
A mob of solid bliss.
Question
Look at the verbs Dickinson chooses for these lines—storm and stun. They're so precise and vivid! What do these verbs suggest about how the children play?
These verbs give readers a sense of how energetically the children play. Their energy is almost violent. They seem to threaten the air itself in their "bliss," another strong word for a feeling that's beyond happiness. Storm can mean "to attack" or "to lay siege to," and it brings to mind intense weather. Stun can mean "to astonish or amaze" (a positive idea) or "to confuse or daze" (a negative idea). Just two words—but they add layers of meaning to these lines.
They storm the earth and stun the air,
A mob of solid bliss.
Alas! that frowns could lie in wait
For such a foe as this!
Question
Look at the word that begins the poem's last two lines: Alas! This dramatic word choice expresses dismay. What upsets the speaker so much? What words help you understand?
The speaker says that "frowns" may "lie in wait" to ambush the children and make them stop their joyous play. The freedom of the Saturday afternoon may end because the children's happiness makes some adult unhappy. The children aren't really a "foe," or enemy, but some adult might find them irritating and think of their play as something that should end. Or perhaps the frowning adult "lies in wait" to spoil the fun out of jealousy. Readers might even wonder whether the burdens of adulthood "lie in wait" to rob the children of their joy as they grow up. As for the speaker, the word "Alas!" suggests that she believes the children's joyous play is just right.
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