I died for Beauty—but was scarce
E86267
"I died for Beauty—but was scarce" is a short, enigmatic lyric poem by Emily Dickinson that explores the kinship between beauty and truth through a posthumous dialogue between two dead speakers.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
lyric poem
→
poem → short poem → |
| author |
Emily Dickinson
→
|
| centralMotif |
conversation in adjoining tombs
→
|
| character |
man who died for truth
→
speaker who died for beauty → |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States
→
|
| firstLine |
I died for Beauty—but was scarce
→
|
| form |
lyric
→
|
| genre |
lyric poetry
→
|
| influencedBy |
Romanticism
→
|
| interpretation |
implies that beauty and truth are closely related ideals
→
suggests affinity between those who die for beauty and those who die for truth → |
| language |
English
→
|
| lineCount |
12
→
|
| literaryMovement |
American poetry of the 19th century
→
Transcendentalist-influenced poetry → |
| meter |
common meter
→
|
| narrativeVoice |
first person
→
|
| posthumousPublication |
true
→
|
| publicationStatusDuringAuthorLife |
unpublished
→
|
| rhymeScheme |
alternating rhyme
→
|
| setting |
grave
→
tomb → |
| speaker |
dead person who died for beauty
→
|
| stanzaCount |
3
→
|
| structure |
three stanzas
→
|
| styleFeature |
compressed imagery
→
elliptical syntax → frequent dashes → unconventional capitalization → |
| subjectMatter |
dialogue between two dead speakers
→
relationship between beauty and truth → |
| symbol |
moss covering the names on the tombs
→
tomb as boundary between life and death → |
| theme |
beauty
→
communication beyond death → death → identity → kinship between beauty and truth → mortality → the afterlife → truth → |
| titleByFirstLine |
true
→
|
| tone |
enigmatic
→
meditative → somber → |
Referenced by (1)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
Emily Dickinson
→
|
notableWork |