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A wounded deer - leaps highest by Emily Dickinson

Analysis

"A Wounded Deer - Leaps Highest" is a poem written by Emily Dickinson. This poem is a metaphor for covering up our emotional states to appear stronger than what we truly are. Nonetheless, sometimes people catch our act for what it truly is and call us out on it.

This poem is written as three stanzas with four lines in each. Dickinson rhymes the second and fourth lines in each stanza, although they are sometimes imperfect rhymes. The poem is written as pairs with the first line of each pair being longer than the second. The first line of the pair hovers around 6-8 while the second lines are 5 or 6.

Johnson number: 165

Poem

A Wounded Deer - Leaps Highest
By 

A wounded deer - leaps highest
I've heard the hunter tell;
'Tis but the ecstasy of death,
And then the brake is still.

The smitten rock that gushes,
The trampled steel that springs:
A cheek is always redder
Just where the hectic stings!

Mirth is mail of anguish,
In which its cautious arm
Lest anybody spy the blood
And, "you're hurt" exclaim

Next: After great pain, a formal feeling comes

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Nationality
American

Literary Movement
19th Century

Subjects
Animal, Nature