I+Like+To+See+It+Lap+The+Miles

Kevin Lin Kristen Genest Austin Kim

//I Like To See It Lap The Miles// - Emily Dickinson

I like to see it lap the miles. And lick the valleys up. And stop to feed itself at tanks: And then, prodigious, step

Around a pile of mountains. And, supercilious, peer In shanties by the sides of roads: And then a quarry pare

To fits its sides. and crawl between. Complaining all the while In horrid, hooting stanza: Then chase itself down hill

And neigh like Boanerges: Then, prompter than a star. Stop-docile and omnipotent- <span style="color: #b536da; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">At its own stable door.

<span style="color: #99004d; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 24px; text-align: center;">Sound Devices <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">I <span style="background-color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">l ike to see it <span style="background-color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">l ap the miles (1) - Alliteration <span style="background-color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">T <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">hen, prompter <span style="background-color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">t <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">han a star. (14) - Alliteration

<span style="color: #99004d; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 24px; text-align: center;">Figurative Speech <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">And lick the valleys up. (2) - Personification <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">And neigh like Boanerges (13) - Simile <span style="color: #99004d; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 24px; text-align: center;">Explication

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I Like To See It Lap For Miles //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> by Emily Dickinson looks at the view of a future technology, in the poet’s case, a train. The poem’s details in relating a train to a horse explains how a future invention does the same as a traditional item, but with advantages. A train in Emily’s time was an improvement of how people can transport goods and other people to see relatives in over a couple days compared to a couple months. Emily’s comparisons emphasize how a train is similar to the horse, and in some cases, praises the train over the horse.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In //I Like To See It Lap For Miles//, the poet begins by explaining how he/she seems to express how a train’s ability is incredible, how it is able to go for miles (1), and how fast it goes that it can only look at the houses for a split second (5). The poet goes on by saying how the train was able to go by a “quarry” (8), which relates to a mountain dug out of the way for the train to pass by. By the end of the train’s journey, the poet describes that upon control, the train must stop instantly, as powerful and obedient as it is, at a stable door (16). The audience can only feel the power and freedom that a train has, only to return to the idea that even a train must follow the regular pattern of feeding and stopping at the end of the day.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I Like To See It Lap The Miles //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is a free verse, sixteen-line poem, divided into four stanzas. There is no visible rhyme scheme at the end of each line in the poem. Dickinson had split the stanzas up, to link stanza to stanza, such as “And then a quarry pare” (8) with “To fit its sides. And crawl between.”(9). Dickinson has intentionally done this to keep a continuous flow within the poem. The imagery is powerful, with a direct comparison of a horse and a train. Some instances of her imagery include in her last stanza, where she says the train stops obediently and powerful at a stable door (15), in relation to a horse ending its day after its owner has completed its tasks. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Dickinson’s use of sound devices, figurative speech, and choice of words gives the poem a sense of emphasis on the train. For example, with “Then” and “than” directly right after one another (14), the poet is giving an emphasis of speed with an image. The poet uses personification to stress the quality of the train itself; the train is compared to a loud, forceful preacher (13), serving to directly expand the loudness of the train. Dickinson decides to use “Boanerges” (13) to signify how the train made a loud sound, like a scene for everyone to hear.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Dickinson’s //I Like To See It Lap The Miles// serves as a comparison between a train and a horse. The poet’s use of figurative language, linking stanzas, sound devices from different stanzas gives the poem a sense of flow and feeling of how much better a train is than a horse, at the time of the poet.