Emily Dickinson (1830-86). Complete Poems. 1924.

A WORD is dead

When it is said,

Some say.

I say it just

Begins to live   5

That day

The title presents a metaphor. The word "Word" represents the tenor of the metaphor, while the word " dead" represents the vehicle. The intelligent reader has to understand what is the common ground of the metaphor. Moreover, what comes to reader's mind is that both words are written with the capital letter. This stylistic choice helps to create a relationship between the words.

The poem is arranged into two stanzas of the same length. The stanzas are two tercets, indeed each stanza is composed of three lines.

The first tercet  presents a third person narrator. This is highlighted by the expression of line 3 "some say". In the first stanza is expressed an opinion: a word dies whenever it is said.

The second tercet presents a first person narrator. Here the poetess, Emily Dickinson, expresses her own opinion, saying that a word "just begins to live" when it is said. Her point of view is in contrast with some people's opinion, which is specified in the first tercet.

After the comprehension of the poem, the intelligent reader should wonder which of the two opinions is the right one, or if does really exist a correct point of view.

The reader notices that the narrative rhythm is really fast and accelerated. This is due to the presence of short and quick lines. In addition, the two run-or lines, or enjambments, help to convey the fast rhythm. The two stanzas are tied thanks to the assonance of the sound "ay" at line 3 and 4.

Moreover, the reader notices that line 3 and line 6 are related: they create a rhyming couplet and they are the shortest lines of the poem. This relationship helps to understand the poem's movement to the general to the specific: the first stanza doesn't explain who have that opinion and , while the second stanza refers to the specific opinion of the poetess.

In poetess opinion, the first opinion belongs to common people, instead the second point of view belongs to people that share an intense relationship with the Word.

From the phonetic level, what comes to reader's mind is the repetition of the dental sound "d", which helps to break the sound, because is a very heavy and strong sound. The allitteration of the dental sound is in contrast with the alliteration of the consonant "s" presented at line 3 and 4. This contrast, between the strong dental sound "d" and the more fluid sound "s", recalls the final message of the poem, the contrast between life and death.