the shipwreck by emily dickinson poetry essay

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Shipwreck Summary & Analysis by Emily Dickinson

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

Emily Dickinson's "Shipwreck" (a title added by later editors) charts the demise of a ship in the gusts and waves of a great storm. Through this deceptively simple poem's picture of a lost ship on a huge ocean, Dickinson explores human vulnerability in the face of nature—and an indifferent cosmos more generally. Emily Dickinson probably wrote "Shipwreck" around 1863; like most of her work, the poem was only published posthumously, first appearing in the 1891 collection Poems .

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The Full Text of “Shipwreck”

1 It tossed and tossed,—

2 A little brig I knew,—

3 O'ertook by blast,

4 It spun and spun,

5 And groped delirious, for morn.

6 It slipped and slipped,

7 As one that drunken stepped;

8 Its white foot tripped,

9 Then dropped from sight.

10 Ah, brig, good-night

11 To crew and you;

12 The ocean's heart too smooth, too blue,

13 To break for you.

“Shipwreck” Summary

“shipwreck” themes.

Human Vulnerability and Nature's Indifference

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Shipwreck”

It tossed and tossed,— A little brig I knew,— O'ertook by blast, It spun and spun, And groped delirious, for morn.

It slipped and slipped, As one that drunken stepped; Its white foot tripped, Then dropped from sight.

Lines 10-13

Ah, brig, good-night To crew and you; The ocean's heart too smooth, too blue, To break for you.

“Shipwreck” Symbols

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“Shipwreck” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

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Personification

“shipwreck” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• O'ertook
• Groped delirious
• Drunken stepped
• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Shipwreck”

Rhyme scheme, “shipwreck” speaker, “shipwreck” setting, literary and historical context of “shipwreck”, more “shipwreck” resources, external resources.

The Emily Dickinson Museum — Visit the website of the Emily Dickinson Museum to find a detailed overview of the poet's life and work. 

The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a reading of "Shipwreck."

Emily Dickinson Archive — Visit the Emily Dickinson Archive to see images of Dickinson's manuscripts (including this poem) and learn about how they were discovered and published.

LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Dickinson

A Bird, came down the Walk

After great pain, a formal feeling comes –

A Light exists in Spring

A Murmur in the Trees—to note—

A narrow Fellow in the Grass

An awful Tempest mashed the air—

As imperceptibly as grief

A still—Volcano—Life—

Because I could not stop for Death —

Before I got my eye put out

Fame is a fickle food

Hope is the thing with feathers

I cannot live with You –

I cautious, scanned my little life

I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to—

I did not reach Thee

I died for Beauty—but was scarce

I dreaded that first Robin, so

I dwell in Possibility –

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

If I can stop one heart from breaking

I had been hungry, all the Years

I have a Bird in spring

I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -

I like a look of Agony

I like to see it lap the Miles

I measure every Grief I meet

I’m Nobody! Who are you?

I started Early — Took my Dog —

I taste a liquor never brewed

It was not Death, for I stood up

I—Years—had been—from Home—

Like Rain it sounded till it curved

Much Madness is divinest Sense -

My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun

Nature is what we see

One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted

Publication — is the Auction

Safe in their Alabaster Chambers

Success is counted sweetest

Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

The Brain—is wider than the Sky—

The Bustle in a House

The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants

There came a Wind like a Bugle

There is no Frigate like a Book

There's a certain Slant of light

There's been a Death, in the Opposite House

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise

The Sky is low — the Clouds are mean

The Soul has bandaged moments

The Soul selects her own Society

The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –

They shut me up in Prose –

This is my letter to the world

This World is not Conclusion

'Twas the old—road—through pain—

We grow accustomed to the Dark

What mystery pervades a well!

Whose cheek is this?

Wild nights - Wild nights!

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Shipwreck by Emily Dickinson

Recorded Lesson

It tossed and tossed, — A little brig I knew, — O'ertook by blast, It spun and spun, And groped delirious, for morn.

It slipped and slipped, As one that drunken stepped; Its white foot tripped, Then dropped from sight.

Ah, brig, good-night To crew and you; The ocean's heart too smooth, too blue, To break for you.

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