The english language has alwasy been fascinating and often confusing at times. But, it can also be magical and mysterious. The poeple who can create these glorious pieces of writing are masters of the language, and are regarded highly in history. A great way to understand literary better is to read poems. Now, I know not everyone likes poems, but we can break apart poems to find even deeper meanings that what may lie on the surface. So, please join me as we look at our first poem today!




Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 and passed in 1886, and is known as one of the best American poets. She spent her life writing poems, and they gained popularity very quickly. It is important to read Dickinson's poem, because she uses lots of imagery and literary elements to strengthen her writing.

There Came a Wind like a Bugle

There came a wind like a bugle;
It quivered through the grass,
And a green chill upon the heat
So ominous did pass
We barred the windows and the doors
As from an emerald ghost;
The doom’s electric moccasin
That very instant passed.
On a strange mob of panting trees,
And fences fled away,
And rivers where the houses ran
Those looked that lived—that Day—
The bell within the steeple wild
The flying tidings whirled.
How much can come
And much can go,
And yet abide the world!


Take a read through this poem. The first thing that catches your eye are the lines such as "The fences fled," "And rivers where the houses ran", and "We barred the windows and the doors". Already, we have a vague idea of what is happening. However, let's start with the first line and make our way down!

First Line: A bugle is a horn that makes a very loud noise over a far distance. This line is a simile, because it uses the word like to compare the loudness of the wind to the loudness of a bugle. What us our take-away? The wind must be very loud!

Second and Third: Well, here we have a personfication , making a non-human object have human characterists. We can see in our minds how it quivered through the grass. Adding on, using the color green is very important. Think about what color the sky is before a storm? And, doesn't it feel like the air suddenly turns cold, a chill upon the heat?

Third: Ominous means giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; threatening; inauspicious. Well, know we know something bad is going to happen!

Fourth and Fifth: Here, we see the poeple in the poem taking action, blocking their windows and doors. Why are they doing this? In the next line, we see it is to protect from the emerald ghost. The use of the color green is used once again! This must be a symbol of some sort. Also, their is a metaphor, a comparing of two things without using 'like' or 'as'. The wind is being compared to a ghost. How do you feel when you hear the wind being compared to a ghost?

Sixth and Seventh: Well, electricy is shocking, quick, and suprising, right? So, if this is doom's electric moccasin we can imagine it as a horrible covering full of lighthing, flashes, shocks, and fear. Now put yourself in the house with the barred doors and windows? It makes you feel doom, right? And then.. it's over in an instant. Quick.. then gone.

Eight, Ninth, Tenth: These three lines give us great description of what the distaster caused. The line and rivers where houses ran really stuck out to me, and made me a bit emotional!

Eleventh, Twelth, Thirteenth: Even more description, the poem feels like it is calming down. We can relax a bit, yet we are left in distraught. And, there seems to be one question, "What just happened?"

The last lines: These lines are something else entirely. They completely sum up the whole poem, but oh gosh they have such a deep meaning. Do you know what the deep meaning of this is? Can you feel it?


In the comments, share your thoughts on this poem. How did it make you feel, and what other things did you notice? It's so important to do this, because it enhances our understanding of the english language and literature itself.