“A Word is Dead” by Emily Dickinson 

A WORD is dead

When it is said,

Some say.

I say it just

Begins to live 5

That day

When the reader looks at the title, he can notice that it is a metaphor: the word “Word” (tenor) is related with the word “Dead” (vehicle), an adjective; this relation is unusual because an object doesn't die, so the reader has to read the poem to understand what the two terms has in common to induce the poetess to associate them.

The poem is apparently made up of one stanza, but on a second look the intelligent reader notices that it is divided into two tercets. The rhyme scheme is AABCDB and underlines the connection between the words “dead” and “said”, and between “some say” and “that day” (undefined time VS defined moment).

After the reader read the text, he understand that the first tercet expresses a neutral opinion: a third person narrator says that a word dies when you say it; he also understand that the second tercet expresses the speaking voice's opinion: the poetess expresses her own opinion about the life cycle of a word. In addition to that the reader can notice that the two points of view are very different and this opposition creates a contrast between the two tercets.

Moreover there are two “run on line” (lines 1-2, lines 4-5): using two “run on line”, the poet forces the reader to read fast, and the poem is so short that sticks into the reader's mind.

At line one and two, the repetition of sound “d”, a dental and strong sound, breaks the rhythm and underlines the word “dead”, moreover the alliteration of sound “s” at line three, a liquid sound, prepares the transition from death (line one) to life (line five).

These alliterations and repetitions underline the contrast between the semantic fields of death and life.

In conclusion, the intelligent reader understands the poetess point of view: she thinks that the poem must be read because when you read it, it becomes alive.