1. Ashleigh, Bentley, Christina, Vicki, and Kaitlyn
Emily Dickinson Poems
Ashleigh, Bentley, Christina, Vicki, and Kaitlyn

2. The Bustle in a House The Bustle in a House The Morning after Death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon the Earth—
The Sweeping up the Heart
And putting Love away
We shall not want to use again
Until Eternity

3. Critical Thinking
Questions

4. Question 1
What words does the speaker use to suggest everyday household chores?
Sweeping and putting things away

5. Question 2 To what type of chores is Dickinson really referring?
Moving on and setting aside your emotions.

6. Question 3
According to the second stanza, when will we again “use” the love we put aside on the morning after death?
We will use this love again in eternity.

7. Question 4 What might this suggest about Dickinson’s faith?
That she believes in life after death, or some type of an eternity.

8. Question 5 How does the line length function in this poem?
Shorter lines make you think more about the meaning of the poem because there is such little information.

9. What can you infer from the poem just from the title?
That there is something in the house that is very noisy.

10. Poem Structure
Two stanzas
Four lines per stanza
Eight lines total

11. What is the story of the poem?
Someone dies and there love and memory is kept away.
Who is the speaker? To whom is the speaker speaking?
A third party person; they’re speaking to the reader.
What is the mood of the poem? What words give clues to the mood?
Calm mood; “solemnest”

12. Are the stanzas related in any way? What do they have in common?
Stanzas are not really related but they refer to a dead person.
What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? What kinds of rhymes are these?
ABCBDEFE; Slant rhyme (Death/Earth) (Away/Eternity)
Is there a rhythm to the poem?
Slight rhythm

13. Success is Counted Sweetest
BY those who ne’er succeed
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of Victory
A he defeated– dying–
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!